Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the need for increased diversity and inclusion in the tech sector, and increased access to opportunity in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 169 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the need for increased diversity and inclusion in the tech sector, and increased access to opportunity in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math- ematics (STEAM) education. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 4, 2019 Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. JUDY CHU of Cali- fornia, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, and Ms. BASS) submitted the following resolution; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regard- ing the need for increased diversity and inclusion in the tech sector, and increased access to opportunity in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education. Whereas there will be 1,400,000 new tech jobs by 2020, how- ever, 70 percent of those jobs will be unfulfilled at the rate United States universities are currently producing qualified graduates; Whereas communities of color (African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Island- VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR169.IH HR169 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 169 IH ers) are woefully underrepresented in corporate leader- ship roles, including the technology sector; Whereas African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders are disproportionately underrepresented in the technology sector; Whereas Black and Hispanic workers in the science and engi- neering workforce continue to be underrepresented, Black employees represent 11 percent of the United States workforce but only 9 percent of the science and engineer- ing workforce, and Hispanic employees represent 16 per- cent of the United States workforce but only 7 percent of the science and engineering workforce; Whereas the share of women working in science and engi- neering jobs has held steady around 50 percent since 1990, but the share of women in specific fields has varied from 47 percent in life sciences to only 25 percent in computer science; Whereas women of color represent less than 10 percent of all computer science professionals (African American: 5.7 percent; Hispanic: 6.4 percent; American Indian or Alas- ka Native: 0.1 percent; and Asian: 22.9 percent); Whereas 50 to 70 percent of employees in tech companies work in non-tech positions, for which an existing pipeline of qualified African Americans and Latinos currently ex- ists; Whereas a pipeline of qualified technical candidates is critical as the tech industry improves its recruiting, hiring, and retaining of candidates and employees of color; Whereas underrepresented minority students overall face an opportunity gap in STEAM education; VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR169.IH HR169 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 169 IH Whereas women of color particularly face an achievement gap in science and engineering education; Whereas, in 2015, women were conferred nearly a third of all science and engineering degrees; Whereas, in 2015, women of color received only 13 percent of all science and engineering degrees (Black: 3.2 per- cent; Hispanic: 3.9 percent; Native American or Alaskan Native: 0.2 percent; Asian or Pacific Islander: 4.5 per- cent; and multi-racial: 1.2 percent); Whereas women overall face a large opportunity gap in com- puter science; Whereas only 18 of all bachelor’s degrees conferred in com- puter science went to women in 2015; Whereas, in 2015, women of color received only 9 percent of degrees conferred in computer science (Black: 3 percent; Hispanic: 2 percent; Native American or Alaska Native: 0.8 percent; and Asian or Pacific Islander: 3 percent); Whereas the opportunity and achievement gap between boys and girls starts early; Whereas, in 2017, 22 percent of high schools offered the Ad- vanced Placement (AP) Computer Science course, and only 35 percent of high schools teach computer science; Whereas, in 2018, 28 percent of AP Computer Science test takers were girls, and 21 percent were African American or Latino; and Whereas there is a dearth of disaggregated data to show aca- demic attainment across different Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports 1 efforts to— 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR169.IH HR169 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 169 IH (1) increase diversity and inclusion in the tech- 1 nology sector, including robust plans to ensure re- 2 cruitment, training, and retention of underrep- 3 resented minorities at all levels, from the boardroom 4 to the senior executive level, to rank and file employ- 5 ees, as well as vendors; 6 (2) eliminate barriers faced by people of color, 7 and other underrepresented groups when breaking 8 into the technology sector; 9 (3) ensure all students have access to science, 10 technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics 11 (STEAM) education for a 21st century economy, in- 12 cluding computer science education in particular; 13 (4) strengthen investments in, and collabora- 14 tions with educational institutions including commu- 15 nity colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Univer- 16 sities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian-American, 17 Native American, and Pacific Islander-serving insti- 18 tutions, American Indian Tribally controlled colleges 19 and universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawai- 20 ian-serving institutions, predominantly Black institu- 21 tions, Native American-serving, non-Tribal institu- 22 tions, and other minority-serving institutions to sus- 23 tain a pipeline of diverse STEAM graduates ready 24 to enter the technology sector; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR169.IH HR169 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 169 IH (5) improve data collection, disaggregation, and 1 dissemination of information for greater under- 2 standing and transparency of diversity in STEAM 3 education and across the workforce. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR169.IH HR169 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS