New Organization to Address Women, Minority Tech Worker Shortage

The Council on Competitiveness has received a $2.3 million federal grant to support the establishment of BEST, a new nonprofit organization designed to turn around the critical shortage of women and minorities in the high technology workforce. The National Science Foundation awarded the grant, which includes funds from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the U. S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce-NIST, Defense, and Energy.



BEST (Building Engineering and Science Talent) will implement the recommendations of the Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development. The bipartisan commission conducted a 16-month assessment of gender, racial, and ethnic imbalance in the nation’s technological workforce. The commission found white males – 40 percent of the nation’s overall workforce – occupying 68 percent of all science, engineering, and technology jobs, while white women, at 35 percent of the national workforce, hold only 15 percent of these jobs. African-Americans and Hispanics, accounting for almost 21 percent of the workforce, are in just 6 percent of the high-tech positions. Those with disabilities, at 14 percent of the workforce, represent 6 percent of the technology workforce.



Under the terms of the grant, the Council will serve as fiscal agent during an “incubation period” of several months and set up an organizational and leadership structure for the new organization. Once fully incorporated, BEST will spearhead a three-year, $10 million effort to broaden the demographic base of the technical workforce by increasing public awareness, securing additional private support, and launching new policy initiatives. Eventually, one-third of the agency’s funding will come from federal agencies and two-thirds from the private sector. Its work will initially focus on identifying and benchmarking practices in high performance regions with a high demand for technically skilled workers. BEST will develop action plans addressing barriers to placing women and minorities in science and math education at the K-12 and higher levels as well as in the workplace.