A recent Diversity and STEM: Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities report found that underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and math made up almost a quarter (24%) of the STEM workforce in 2021, an increase from 18% in 2011.

Among Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians or Alaska Natives, the number of Hispanics increased the most, from 11% in 2011 to 15% in 2021.

As the number of other racial and ethnic groups increased, the percentage of STEM workers who identify as White decreased from 74% in 2011 to 64% in 2021.

The report used data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) to describe the STEM workforce's size and how people are represented according to sex, ethnicity, and disability status.

It also shows how the representation of these groups has changed between 2011 and 2021.

The data indicates that although men and Whites still make up the largest share, the STEM workforce has been gradually becoming more diverse over the past ten years, with increased representation of women and underrepresented minorities, such as Hispanics or Latinos, Blacks or African Americans, and American Indians or Alaska Natives.

Overall, the STEM workforce grew from 29.0 million to 34.9 million between 2011 and 2021, representing a 20% increase.

STEM workers accounted for 24% of the total workforce in 2021, up from 21% in 2011. Approximately one-fourth of the U.S. workforce is employed in STEM occupations.

Out of the 146.4 million people ages 18 to 74 in the workforce, 34.9 million (24%) were employed in STEM occupations in 2021.

While men and women made up similar proportions of the total workforce (52% men and 48% women), a larger share of men (29%) worked in STEM occupations than women (18%).

Among racial or ethnic groups, Asian workers had the highest share employed in STEM (39%), whereas the lowest share was among Black workers (18%).

Within other racial and ethnic groups, 20% to 25% worked in STEM. Workers with one or more disabilities made up a small proportion (3%) of the workforce.

Among workers with at least one disability, 21% worked in STEM occupations, which is slightly less than the 24% of nondisabled workers in STEM occupations.

Although fewer women than men work in the STEM occupations, the number of women in the STEM workforce grew faster. Between 2011 and 2021, the number of women in the STEM workforce increased by 31%, from 9.4 million to 12.3 million.

For men, 22.6 million were employed in STEM occupations in 2021. White workers, at 22.4 million, represented the largest race and ethnic group in the STEM workforce, followed by Hispanic workers (5.1 million), Asian (3.6 million), Black (3.0 million), and American Indian or Alaska Native (216,000).

The number of Hispanic STEM workers experienced the most significant numeric growth over the period, increasing from 3.1 million to 5.1 million.

Although the increase in STEM workers in total was mainly for those without disabilities, the number of STEM workers with at least one disability also increased, reaching about 1.0 million in 2021.