PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
August 2018
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Geospatial work often requires knowl-
edge of, or applies to, other fields. Figure
3 shows the distribution of women in the
related fields of physical sciences, com-
puter sciences and engineering. Notably,
the percentage of women in computer
science has declined by 7% over the past
28 years. The percentage of women en-
gineers has remained essentially flat (2%
increase) over the past 28 years.
4
There
are many programs supporting and en-
couraging women to get STEM degrees,
but there are still systematic barriers that
push women out of the field.
5
Next, we look at earnings by race and
gender
2.
Figure 4 shows that Asians are
the highest earners, making 19% more
than Native Americans.
Figure 5 shows the gender pay gap in
STEM as 81.5%, which is slightly better
than the overall gender pay gap in the
US of 80%.
6
While some may argue that
women and minorities don’t want to work
in the geospatial field, nobody could
argue that they want to make less than
their white male counterparts.
Other research found that:
•
A 2012 study found that both male
and female professors were more
likely to choose a resume that had a
man’s name on it even though it was
identical to a woman’s resume.
7
•
50% of women in STEM have
experienced gender discrimination
at work.
4
•
62% of Blacks in STEM report racial
discrimination.
4
•
44% of Asians, 42% of Hispanics
and 13% of Whites in STEM report
racial or ethnic discrimination.
4
U
nconscious
B
ias
Confirmation bias is the scientific term
used to describe the human tendency
to interpret data in favor of one’s own
personal preferences. This bias, known
as unconscious bias in the social scienc-
es, is a root cause of racial and gender
inequity in the workplace. Everyone is
biased, even women and people of color
can be biased against each other. How-
ever, bias is a problem when it prevents
minorities and women from earning
equal pay for equal work, from being
able to fully contribute in the workplace,
and from enjoying a supportive work
environment.
Senior management tend to staff their
teams with people that look and act like
themselves, because they are comfort-
able with those people and believe they
can do the work better than anyone else.
In 2016 minority women, Caucasian wom-
en, and minority men held 3.8%, 10.6%
and 16.4%, respectively, of Fortune 500
Board Seats.
8
This means that women
and minorities have fewer opportunities,
or less privilege, to leverage unconscious
bias to hire people like themselves (even
if they wanted to). All of the statistics men-
tioned above are the results of discrimi-
nation, which is then perpetuated through
the unequal opportunities available to
minorities and women.
MEDIAN EARNING
FOR
STEM GRADUATES
BY
RACE/ETHNICITY
White
US Census Bureau, 2011
Asian
2 or More Races
Hispanic
Other
Black
Native American
$89,500
$88,400
$81,000
$77,300
$76,500
$75,000
$72,600
Figure 4. Median salary in the STEM fields by race.
MEDIAN EARNING
FOR
STEM GRADUATES
FEMALE
MALE
$75,100
$91,000
$0
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
$80,000
$100,000
Figure 5. Median Earnings in STEM by Gender.
