2021 Electronics Engineer Demographics: Talent Shortage and Diversified Innovation

Latest update time：2021-11-24 10:26

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The demographics and statistics of electronic engineers (EEs) remain largely the same as of 2021. But many companies and universities are designing programs for a more diverse next generation of EEs.

In the U.S., close to 80% of electronic engineers are men. This is a number that cannot be replicated in other industries, and in fact, by 2021, nearly half of the U.S. workforce will be women. In terms of race, white engineers make up nearly 70% of electronic engineers, followed by Asian engineers and Hispanic or Latino engineers.

In the United States, most electronics engineers live in Texas and New York.

EE demographics as of 2021

Diversity in the electrical engineering field has been slow to change, with women still underrepresented, but the demographics are beginning to change. From 1970 to 2019, women’s representation in the STEM workforce grew from 8% to 27%. However, the smallest gains were in engineering.

Percentage of women in STEM jobs

A more inclusive engineering workforce

Electronic engineers play a vital role in the United States' global competitiveness. However, the engineering sector is quite short of appropriately skilled workers. According to one report, the United States will need an additional 20,200 electronic engineers over the next decade. To fill this gap, many American companies are outsourcing employment to cheaper foreign labor. On the other hand, some companies and universities are working to widen their nets and recruit diverse candidates in the United States.

For example, the GE Foundation, which has long worked to uplift underrepresented communities, recently announced that it plans to invest up to $100 million over a decade to increase diversity among young people in engineering fields.

Designed to prepare students for college, the program provides students with engineering practice opportunities and scholarships to pursue engineering degrees. The program plans to impact 85,000 students in 25 cities around the world by 2030.

Qualcomm wants to foster innovators who can bring different backgrounds, ideas, and perspectives. The company has a diversity working group, a global inclusion and diversity team, and a diversity talent development program. The multinational company believes that teams built around different perspectives and experiences can inspire creativity and innovation, so it actively seeks out and recruits these candidates.

Recruiting non-traditional candidates

The current shortage of engineering talent may also be the result of young people’s lack of awareness of the engineering route.

In a recent story about three women making waves in the field of electrical engineering, AAC highlighted Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code. Bryant's initiative provides resources for girls who participate in workshops and summer camps to learn basic programming, web design, app development, and robotics. Her programs offer participants opportunities in electrical engineering and computer science.

Similarly, to expand the university's reach to nontraditional candidates, UC Riverside has a Culture, Equity, and Inclusion (CEI) committee that works on immediate and sustainable actions to make the university's EE community more inclusive. The committee says there are systemic barriers to underrepresented groups that need to be broken down. Stanford's electrical engineering department also has a CEI committee.

Chart of the percentage of each racial category in EE from 2008 to 2018

Another organization seeking to expand the next generation of engineers is the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), which provides resources for women to succeed in engineering. This year, the society awarded $1.2 million in scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students. Seven of the recipients came from the University of Arizona, which has expressed interest in diversifying its engineering curriculum.

“This community has shown me the value of diversity in engineering and provided me with a platform to grow my confidence as an engineer,” said Elizabeth Jones, a graduate student in electrical engineering. “It has always been a goal of mine to help others find that same confidence.”

More diversity means more talent

A recent Harvard Business Review article states that while women make up 20% of engineering graduates, 40% of women who pursue these degrees either drop out or never enter the profession. Many of these women cite the male hegemony of their field as the reason they leave.

In an article about diversity in STEM, Scientific American author Kenneth Gibbs Jr. commented that a lack of diversity means a loss of talent. Ultimately, greater diversity leads to more perspectives, and with more perspectives comes a greater potential for innovation, growth, and financial success.

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