Brianna White

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Jul 30, 2019
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SALT LAKE CITY — As Massiel Islas has navigated jobs in Utah's tech industry, she has often been the only Latina.
"The industry can be tough. There's not a lot of people that look like you, that sound like you, that have the same background, or that really understand your story," said Islas, who recently accepted a software engineering job at Amazon.
Women and Hispanic workers are underrepresented in Utah's technology sectors. Although Hispanic workers make up 14% of Utah employees, they account for 6.5% of all STEM workers, according to a Utah Women and Leadership Project report.
Likewise, only 2% of employed Hispanic women work in science, technology, engineering and math occupations, compared with 3.4% of all employed women in Utah.
Those trends are particularly concerning due to the prominent role the tech industry plays in the state's economy, the report says. Tech companies, directly and indirectly, supported more than 1 in 7 Utah jobs and almost one-fifth of worker earnings in the state, according to a 2019 University of Utah report.
Empowering one another
The lack of female and Hispanic representation in Utah tech can present challenges for Latinas working in the industry, such as not having their points taken seriously, struggling to negotiate fair pay and promotions, grappling with imposter syndrome, or — for Latina immigrants — adapting to U.S. work culture.
Continue reading: https://www.ksl.com/article/50480564/latinas-in-tech-provides-community-for-women-vastly-underrepresented-in-their-field
 

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