Identifying the Problem
Being part of a community where there aren’t enough resources as other communities, we wanted people to be aware of how they can get informed. We are Latinas that searched to improve the representation of Latinx in the STEM field. We identified it by doing research on percentages of Latinx in the STEM field and we noticed that was one of the groups that was underrepresented.
We used demographics as well as research to identify the issue. We saw that Latinx makes a small percentage of what is shown in the STEM field. Us, being the new generation, wanted to attempt to somehow make people aware of what are somethings they could do to reach this goal. We wanted people to know that even though it is not easy, they are still able to do/ accomplish it no matter the odds.
We used demographics as well as research to identify the issue. We saw that Latinx makes a small percentage of what is shown in the STEM field. Us, being the new generation, wanted to attempt to somehow make people aware of what are somethings they could do to reach this goal. We wanted people to know that even though it is not easy, they are still able to do/ accomplish it no matter the odds.
Research
We looked into the California Demographic Labor Force and the U.S. Census Bureau survey that shows that 28% of women in Los Angeles County have a career in Computer, engineering and science occupation. This is the lowest number in occupation fields here in Los Angeles. We also researched the pay gap between men and women and found out women get paid almost $15,000 less than men for doing the same job.
Area of Focus
The need is aligned to our impact area because we have researched that there is a high need for minorities in STEM career fields and mostly women are underrepresented at 28% here alone in Los Angeles County. If industries need to alleviate the gap by proper representation, why are industries not collaborating with our schools to help provide assistance to our communities? In providing the opportunities to our communities, we can in turn provide the minorities needed to correctly represent the citizens of the United States within all STEM career fields.
Our Soultion
If given the opportunity, we scheduled and created a date March 26th to provide an outreach workshop for our community filled with important information regarding our community and the lack of funding and resources provided to us. We scheduled guest minority speakers to talk to our community about opportunities they have received to obtain the career they are currently serving in.