Less than a third of federal STEM employees are women

WORKFORCE

Less than a third of federal STEM employees are women

Drew Friedman | @dfriedmanWFED
July 15, 2022 3:37 pm
5 min read

Among efforts to increase diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the federal workforce, women still fall significantly behind in representation for agencies’ science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) roles.

Women comprised just 29.3% of federal STEM workers, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported on July 13. The statistic was based on data from fiscal 2019, the most recent information available.

The number was just ahead of STEM workers nationwide. Data from the Census Bureau showed that women made up about 27% of the overall STEM workforce in the U.S.

Many groups have conducted research on women in STEM for the private sector, but for federal agencies, the reporting is much more limited, EEOC said. In an effort to add more to the conversation specifically for STEM in the federal government, EEOC’s report offered analysis based not only on gender, but also race, age, rates of discrimination and more.

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