| DELIVERING ON DIVERSITY, GENDER EQUALITY, AND INCLUSION
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| In this issue, we look at how race, ethnicity, and gender intersect in the US tech pipeline, and at Indigenous peoples’ stewardship of natural lands around the world. |
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| The interest is there: girls make up nearly half of American middle- and high-school students who are interested in learning computer science. That’s according to Rebooting representation, a report by McKinsey and Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created by Melinda French Gates. But despite the keen interest that girls express in the discipline, they make up less than one-fourth of high-school students who take the Advanced Placement (AP) computer-science exam. Missing out on this and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education could mean missing out on high-paying jobs down the line. |
| In fact, women make up only a quarter of the US computing workforce. For Black, Indigenous, and Latina women, the situation is even more stark: together, they represent about 16 percent of the US population—yet they make up just 4 percent of the computing workforce. At the senior leadership level, these women are almost completely absent; there are zero Black, Indigenous, or Latina women among the CEOs of Fortune 500 tech companies. |
| Many tech-company leaders say they want to help boost the number of Black, Indigenous, and Latina women and girls in tech, but historically, only a small fraction of a percent of their companies’ philanthropic giving has been focused on reaching these women and girls specifically. |
| Tech companies can execute a different kind of program—one that’s aimed at removing barriers for girls and women of color in particular. A gender-neutral approach, our research shows, just isn’t up to the task. |
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| That’s the share of all remaining natural lands worldwide that researchers estimate are stewarded by Indigenous peoples. Indigenous communities living in or close to natural areas play a critical role in conservation. These communities stand to substantially benefit from conservation projects—and they are the first to suffer the consequences of environmental damage. |
| — Edited by Gwyn Herbein, an assistant managing editor in McKinsey’s Atlanta office |
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