Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) are other areas where we are seeing an uptick in the aggressive push to find trained workers to fill openings. U.S. News analysis by Jonathan Rothwell found that advertising for STEM vacancies lasts more than twice as long as other fields and that there are roughly 4 million computer science jobs needed in America and only 400,000 graduates with those skills every year.
So we see that demand and we tell students that’s where they should really focus their learning efforts if they want to be successful, land a job and contribute best to the economy as a whole. It’s not a bad practice from a job security standpoint. Training traditionally disadvantaged students in fields where they will likely find work is a sound principal. In doing this, however, are we neglecting the leadership opportunities where minority workers are so desperately needed?
In the push to fill demand in the already-established workforce, are we forgetting about the leadership and innovation possible with entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship in the U.S.
Most of the businesses in the United States are small ones, by definition. Some are sole proprietors and some employ others (small businesses account for 55 percent of all U.S. employment). Collectively, small businesses bring in 54 percent of all annual revenue in the United States, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Even though minorities are nearing the majority of the population, minorities head just 14.6 percent of businesses in the United States. Black business owners make up 49.9 percent of that figure and Asians are 29.6 percent. Hispanic business owners are at just 10.3 percent, but are the fastest-growing minority business-owning group, according to the SBA.
