AT&T : HACEMOS Drives Diversity in STEM

AT&T's HACEMOS Group Helps Drive Latino Diversity in STEM Fields with 20^th Annual High Technology Day

School used to be all about the 3 Rs: reading, 'riting, and 'rithmatic. But the future is all about all about STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. That's why HACEMOS, AT&T's Hispanic/Latino employee resource group, is introducing students to STEM during their 20^th annual High Technology Day on Thursday, Oct. 18.

In this milestone year, more than 2,500 middle and high school students are expected to participate in 35 High Technology Day events taking place on Oct. 18 across the U.S. and Mexico. The events will expose Latino youth to education and career opportunities in STEM, spark discussion with STEM professionals and provide mentorship opportunities.

This year's theme is 'SOMOS Tecnología,' or, 'We Are Technology.' It centers around increasing Latino representation in STEM and getting students involved in the industry early on.

The STEM field suffers from a lack of diverse representation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an estimated 9 million STEM-related jobs will go unfilled by the year 2022. A lack of knowledgeable professionals in these roles will have far-reaching effects. But getting more Latinos and other underrepresented groups into STEM education and careers now can help ensure more of these jobs are filled.

'Latinos are woefully underrepresented in STEM fields,' said Aracely Cuadra, EVP of Operations for HACEMOS. 'This is due in part to a lack of access to educational opportunities, which leads to many in the community being unaware of the abundance of career fields out there. Our goal with High Technology Day is to spark interest for students and make them aware of the different paths to a STEM career.'

While High Technology Day is one of the biggest initiatives HACEMOS hosts, it's not their only one. In 2017, the ERG worked with AT&T's Diversity & Inclusion team and the Latina STEM advocacy group TECHNOLOchicas to gather more than 150 Latina high school students in Dallas and Los Angeles for a day of STEM workshops. Students learned and applied industry skills to code, create emojis, and more.

HACEMOS is committed to providing Latino youth access, training and exposure to the latest in tech so that they are prepared to enter the STEM field. Through events like HACEMOS High Technology Day, they're able to do just that.

To join the conversation around the 20^th Annual High Technology Day and to share stories from events in your area, follow and use #HACEMOSHTD and #LifeAtATT on your social channels.

Learn about scholarship opportunities presented by HACEMOS at scholarsapply.org/hacemos.

Check out AT&T College Programs at att.jobs/careers/college.

And to learn more about AT&T's commitment to diversity and inclusion, go to about.att.com/sites/diversity.