Tech Companies Can Do More to Support Black Students in STEM

Berkeley I School
BerkeleyISchool
Published in
4 min readApr 24, 2019

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The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) held their 45th Annual Convention last month from March 27–31, 2019 in Detroit Michigan. Eve Mwangi (MIMS ’19) attended the conference and spent time at the I School booth there. She tells us about her experience with NSBE and why the industry needs to do more to include Black engineers and Black students in STEM.

Eve Mwangi

Why is it important to have spaces and organizations for Black engineers and Black students going into STEM fields?

It is important to build a community of engineers from the Black community because it brings us together and allows us to share stories and inspire one another. It also creates a space to get more people in the Black community interested in STEM fields and I am excited to be a part of it. And beyond building community, these kinds of organizations provide a way for companies looking to hire the best talent in engineering.

Why is the Black Graduate Engineering and Science Students group at Berkeley important?

The group was created to reach as many minority students in Berkeley and address a great number of graduate student issues. In a practical sense, BGESS is beneficial in its ability to pool resources, like funds, for its members to achieve more in our respective fields. They host special programs and events meant to educate and improve the lives of members such as speaker series, where they invite special guests who speak about relevant topics, social events, where we meet up and get to know each other more, networking workshops and career fairs.

Eve at the School of Information booth at NSBE

What are things you learned at NSBE that particularly resonated with you?

The most important thing I learned at the convention was the importance of giving back. The 2019 convention was the 45th time that this student-run event has happened and I met people who were attending for the first time and people who’ve been coming to the event for years. I attended the 44th convention, my first one, and I met three young men who were students at the time. This year, I got to see them again, though this time, they weren’t students anymore. They were working for big tech companies in the Bay Area. I asked them why they came back. And one of them said to me, “NSBE has done so much for me. I came to give back.” NSBE is not just a convention where you go to find a job and attend rad tech parties, but a place where you also support and build other students and engineers.

NSBE is not just a convention where you go to find a job and attend rad tech parties, but a place where you also support and build other students and engineers.

And so I truly treasure the time I spent talking to prospective students of the School of Information at our booth at the convention. I had the opportunity to tell my I School story and the opportunity to listen to their stories. In this way, we made a connection with them and I feel I did my small part in getting more students interested in technology and grad school.

How does NSBE’s mission “to increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community” relate to your goals and career?

I am inspired to be the best I can be. NSBE says as part of their mission: “Keep moving forward, it gives others hope.”

This has shown me that I am not simply excelling for myself, but I am able to inspire others who come after me when I succeed.

Where do you hope to see the tech industry, and STEM in general, improve and make greater strides in regards to being more inclusive or supportive of Black students?

When questioned about the lack of diversity in the tech industry, the response has always been ‘there’s a pipeline problem’…As Black students, we are here and we are eager to learn and create. And you are at a loss if you ignore us.

When you have someone who you look up to who has had similar experiences as you have, you know in your heart that you can achieve what they have achieved and even take it a notch higher. When questioned about the lack of diversity in the tech industry, the response has always been ‘there’s a pipeline problem’. However, what I saw at NSBE shows that this isn’t the case. As Black students, we are here and we are eager to learn and create. And you are at a loss if you ignore us. Tech companies should have more inclusive cultures so that we are all able to build the future together for all of us.

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Berkeley I School
BerkeleyISchool

The UC Berkeley School of Information is a multi-disciplinary program devoted to enhancing the accessibility, usability, credibility & security of information.