Minority Female Mechanical Engineer Interview with Bethlehem Mersa

Show Notes

Black and Hispanic workers continue to be underrepresented in the STEM workforce. Blacks makeup 11% of the U.S. workforce overall but represent 9% of STEM workers, while Hispanics comprise 16% of the U.S. workforce but only 7% of all STEM workers. And among employed adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher, blacks are just 7% and Hispanics are 6% of the STEM workforce.  These numbers are even lower if we look at women that both enroll and are employed in STEM.  Miss Bethlehem Mersa is a senior in mechanical engineering at The University of South Carolina. She has had 2 internships in the field and will be enrolling in graduate school pursuing a Master of Science in entrepreneurial engineering.  She shares with us why she pursued the field of mechanical engineering. She gives us concrete experiences on how to cope with being not only a female but a minority female in this competitive field.  She encourages others with a passion to pursue and prepare for STEM.