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Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson joined five other lawmakers Thursday in creating the House Innovation and Diversity Caucus. The group hopes to generate policy ideas for increasing the ranks of underrepresented groups in STEM fields. Moreover, it hopes to shape existing policies to take advantage of opportunities for increasing minority participation in science.
“In order to remain competitive, the U.S. must marshal all its resources and develop them to the fullest extent possible,” said Congresswoman Johnson. “We believe that the increased education and participation of groups currently under-represented in STEM is essential to keeping the nation’s economic engine running.”
“The caucus wants to spread the message that pro-innovation policies are critical issues for minority communities and that promoting diversity in STEM helps further the competitiveness mission,” she said.
According to the U.S. Census, 39 percent of the population under the age of 18 is a racial or ethnic minority. Yet, in 2000, only 4.4 percent of the science and engineering jobs were held by African Americans and only 3.4 percent by Hispanics. While women constitute over half of the post-secondary students in the nation, they represent a little more than one-fourth of our science and engineering workforce. These are the sort of imbalances that caucus policies will seek to correct.
“The face of our technology workforce should look like the face of America,” said Congresswoman Johnson. “If our country is to achieve its strategic objectives in STEM, the enormous potential of groups that are currently underrepresented in those fields must be realized through targeted programs that expand the STEM pipeline.”
U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure. She represents the 30th Congressional District, which includes downtown Dallas, Northeast, East Oak Cliff & Pleasant Grove; all of Balch Springs, De Soto, Lancaster & Hutchins and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Glen Heights, Wilmer and Ovilla.
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