Diversity in the Geosciences This session is designed to introduce you to the issue facing the geosciences in terms of its lack of diversity and possible solutions to diversify the geosciences Joshua Villalobos El Paso Community College

Why Should Diversity Matter? Societal Responsibility How can we educate our society on issues in Earth Science if the Earth Sciences aren’t representative of our society. Intelligence and talent are not unequally distributed in society. We are not attracting the best and brightest from these groups into the geosciences.

Why Should Diversity Matter? - webCASPAR database Professional Responsibility Over the next decade: 125,000 geoscientists are expected to retire 1 72,000 geoscience job openings by ,000 new jobs over the next 10 years! Over the next decade: 15,000 new graduates at the MS and PhD level 1 35,000 total new graduates at the B.S. level 1 Net deficit of over 150,000 by 2021! 1 American Geosciences Institute Bureau of Labor Statistics 2012

Two viable solutions: Increase domestic capacity of geoscientist. Utilize recent trend in minority enrollments. Develop early mentoring strategies. Geoscience careers often have a negative or wrong perception. There are few minority role models in the geosciences Lack of understanding of what geoscience is and how it relates to every day life. What are Our Options? Pew Hispanic Center analysis of the October 2010 Current Population survey and US Census Bureau /2011/08/25/hispanic-college-enrollment-hispanic spikes-narrowing-gaps-with-other-groups/

What’s our Diversity Workplan? 1) Where we are in the Geosciences? Where do we stand among other STEM fields in society? Can we be more diverse? Are we being successful? How do we address the lack of minorities to those who are the majority? 2) Where do we want to be in the Geosciences? How will we define success? How do we make diversity sustainable? 3)Workshop Action Plan What actions are needed to achieve our goals.