For decades, our country has invested in creating a more diverse STEM workforce by launching efforts that increase the representation of women and people of color in the field. Out-of-school time programs have played a large role, funneling more girls and youth of color into K-12 STEM education programs that introduce them to the field.

On the surface, this strategy makes sense — if we get more girls and young people of color interested in STEM early, we’re bound to make strides toward a STEM workforce that mirrors the diversity of our country.

Yet, after decades of work to improve representation in STEM careers, we’re still left with dismal results.

According to 2019 data from the National Science Foundation, women held one-third of STEM occupations in the United States. That percentage is significantly lower when we look at women of color. Catalyst, a nonprofit focused on building workplaces that work for women, calculated that 2.4 percent of Latina women, 1.8 percent of Black women and 0.1 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women held U.S. jobs in science and engineering in 2019.

We have to stop and ask ourselves — why aren’t these efforts working?

It’s clear that increasing representation alone won't fix the problem — in fact, it barely scratches the surface. For too long, the focus has been on pushing girls — specifically girls of color — into the STEM pipeline without stopping to deeply assess the leaks in the pipeline that create a path in which women tend not to remain in the field, despite interest and talent.

I’ve seen this problem up close. As a Black woman who started my career working closely with engineers and then moved on to lead diversity and inclusion efforts at a major telecommunications corporation, I’ve personally experienced feeling out of place because my background differed from that of my colleagues and didn’t fit into a traditional box. And now, as the leader of a nonprofit focused on STEM education for girls of color and gender-expansive youth, I’ve heard directly from young people about these challenges.

We need solutions that focus on retention and belonging, not representation. We need solutions that address the unique, intersectional barriers that prevent those most marginalized in the field from persisting and succeeding in STEM education spaces.

Read the full article about STEM diversity by Nikole Collins-Puri at EdSurge.