Report

When the STEM workforce is divided into broad occupation types, 38% worked in middle-skill occupations, 37% in S&E-related occupations, and 25% in S&E occupations in 2021 (figure 3-1).

Dividing the STEM workforce by sex reveals striking differences in occupational distribution and concentration. Among men, half (52%) worked in middle-skill occupations, whereas over two-thirds (68%) of women worked in S&E-related occupations. The proportions were closer for S&E occupations than for the other two broad STEM occupation types: 28% of men and 20% of women were in S&E occupations.

Notable differences also exist when the distributions within the racial and ethnic groups are compared. Among Asian STEM workers, about half (52%) were employed in S&E occupations, with the smallest share employed in middle-skill occupations (13%). By comparison, among Hispanics and among American Indians or Alaska Natives in the STEM workforce, the greatest proportions worked in middle-skill occupations (63% and 52%, respectively) and the smallest proportions worked in S&E occupations (14% each). The highest share of Black or African American STEM workers was in S&E-related occupations (44%).

Among those in the STEM workforce, 46% of those with at least one disability worked in middle-skill occupations, compared with 38% of those with no disability. The share of STEM workers with at least one disability working in S&E-related occupations was lower than that of STEM workers without a disability (29% vs. 37%). A similar proportion of STEM workers with a disability and without a disability had positions in S&E occupations (24% and 25%, respectively).

In 2021, employment within each broad occupation type was dominated by either men or women (figure 3-2). Middle-skill occupations had the greatest concentration, where nearly 9 out of 10 (89%) workers were men. At 72%, men also had most of the S&E jobs. Conversely, among S&E-related occupations, nearly two-thirds (65%) were women.

When combined, underrepresented minorities—Hispanics, Blacks, and American Indians or Alaska Natives—made up about a quarter (24%) of all STEM workers (figure 1-1). When divided by broad occupation type, compared with their share of STEM workers, underrepresented minorities made up a lower share of S&E occupations (16%) and S&E-related occupations (20%) but a higher share of middle-skill occupations (33%).

Although Hispanics made up 15% of the STEM workforce (figure 2-3), they represented nearly a quarter (24%) of those working in middle-skill occupations (figure 3-2). Similarly, Asian STEM workers made up 10% of the STEM workforce but 21% of those in S&E occupations.

The share of workers with at least one disability was similarly low (2%–4%) across the three STEM occupation types, which is consistent with their low proportion in the overall STEM workforce (3%) (figure 2-3).

Dividing the STEM workforce by educational attainment yields two large groups (see sidebar The STEM Workforce of the United States). One is STEM workers who do not have a bachelor’s degree, referred to as the skilled technical workforce, and the other is STEM workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Overall, the STEM workforce was about equally split between the skilled technical workforce (49%) and workers with at least a bachelor’s degree (51%) in 2021 (figure 3-3).

Among male STEM workers, over half (57%) were employed in the skilled technical workforce, which includes workers in S&E, S&E-related, and middle-skill occupations. Conversely, nearly two-thirds (65%) of women with STEM jobs had a bachelor’s degree or higher education.

About 7 out of 10 STEM workers in two racial or ethnic groups—Hispanic (72%) and American Indian or Alaska Native (67%)—worked in the skilled technical workforce. In contrast, 86% of Asian STEM workers had a bachelor’s degree or higher, with just 14% of that group employed in the skilled technical workforce.

Among STEM workers with at least one disability, about two-thirds (65%) were employed in the skilled technical workforce, whereas STEM workers without a disability were evenly divided between the skilled technical workforce (49%) and those with at least a bachelor’s degree (51%).

Among STEM workers in the skilled technical workforce, the share of men was three times that of women (75% vs. 25%) (figure 3-4). This pattern is similar to that of the male-female distribution of middle-skill occupations (figure 3-2). The higher share of women in the skilled technical workforce relates to the inclusion of workers across all three broad categories of STEM occupations—S&E, S&E-related, and middle-skill occupations—and the high share of women (65%) in S&E-related occupations (figure 3-2). Compared with the skilled technical workforce, the distribution by sex in STEM occupations with a bachelor’s degree or higher was more evenly split: 55% male and 45% female.

The share of underrepresented minorities—Hispanics, Blacks, and American Indians or Alaska Natives—in the skilled technical workforce (32%) was twice the share of underrepresented minorities employed in STEM occupations with a bachelor’s degree or higher (16%).

Over one in five (22%) employed in the skilled technical workforce were Hispanic, notably higher than the share of Hispanic workers employed in STEM jobs with at least a bachelor’s degree (8%). Conversely, Asian workers made up 17% of those employed in STEM with a bachelor’s degree or higher, about five times their share in the skilled technical workforce (3%).

The share of workers with at least one disability was similarly low across the two education levels (2% with a bachelor’s degree or higher and 4% in the skilled technical workforce).