Diversity in Tech: The Top 25 Colleges Graduating Latinos in STEM

By Robert Schoon First Posted: Jul 02, 2015 03:34 PM EDT

It's been about a year since, under the prodding of Rev. Jesse Jackson and others asking Silicon Valley to face up to its lack of diversity, Google (and then many other technology companies) went transparent with their workplace demographics data.

The Roots of Silicon Valley's Diversity Problem

And a year later, Google and Facebook (undoubtedly representative of the industry) have recently revealed that despite taking steps, both cultural and pragmatic, to increase the number and impact of underrepresented minorities working there, little has changed in the bottom line numbers.

Most recently for example, Facebook showed the rate of Latinos working at the company remains extremely low, at 4 percent.

But the pipeline of talent -- i.e., higher ed. institutions graduating minority students with degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields -- isn't supplying what Silicon Valley needs, the companies protest. And, as we recently reported, the data, by and large, backs them up.

That doesn't mean there are no hotbeds of STEM education for Latinos, as a recent report by Excelencia in Education, a data-driven Latino education advocacy nonprofit, has shown.

The report, aptly named "Finding Your Workforce: Latinos in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math," found that 2 percent of all higher education institutions graduated a third of Latinos with degrees in STEM fields between 2012 and 2013 (we have the full list below).

Here's a quick snapshot at the report's most interesting findings.

The (Data-Driven) Path Forward

"The data is clear. To meet our workforce and economic needs, America must accelerate degree completion generally and particularly in STEM fields," said Sarita Brown, president of Excelencia in Education. "Forward-focused colleges, universities, graduate schools and employers should incorporate this analysis in their recruitment strategies."

The information is more than just a useful tool for Silicon Valley HR representatives; it could highlight how and where government and industry could get more return on their investments in the STEM education pipeline.

"This analysis is straightforward: we know where Latinos are earning their degrees in STEM and we know what some of these institutions are doing, with intentionality, to improve Latino success in STEM fields," wrote Deborah Santiago, COO and vice president for policy of Excelencia in Education in the report's release. "What we need now is to help institutions and employers seize the opportunity to educate and employ more Latinos in professional STEM fields."

For example, the report shows that for undergraduate STEM degrees, it's often colleges certified as Hispanic-Service Institutions (HSIs) that most successfully cater to Latino students' aspirations to STEM careers.

On the other hand, the report's findings also show that currently, Latinos graduates in STEM are mostly concentrated in lower paying jobs, with Latinos in STEM service jobs represented more than professional STEM occupations.

This data, commented Dr. Gabriel Montaño, research scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and president of the Society for Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), "shines a light on what many of us know to be true: That diversification within STEM postsecondary education, particularly among Hispanics/Latinos over the last decade, has been largely in the area of certificate/associate levels and diminishes at each successive level,"

"The result is an increasing discrepancy in positions of leadership within the STEM workforce," he added.

But some schools are finding success helping talented students transfer from the community college level to a four-year degree, or beyond. In particular, the report highlights a partnership between El Paso Community College (EPCC) and the University of Texas - El Paso.

In that case, the university makes peer mentors and academic advisers accessible to all students at EPCC, and additionally provides opportunities for degree-relevant employment at the University of Texas - El Paso's Student Technology Services office. Programs such as these could be implemented in other institutions to better serve Latino STEM students' talents, needs, and aspirations.

Here are the top 25 institutions in 2012-2013 graduating Latinos in STEM on all levels, courtesy of Excelencia in Education: