Native American students continue to face systemic exclusion in computer science education in high school and beyond. That’s according to a new report that shows the inequality continues when choosing careers based in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Native Americans are often underrepresented in high-paying tech jobs. According to the report, “The State of Diversity: The Native Tech Ecosystem” only 59% of Indigenous students attend schools that offer computer science. And only 20% of high schools on reservations offer the subject.
Salina Riley is a third-year biochemistry student at the University of New Mexico. She’s from Laguna and Acoma Pueblos and wants to become a pediatric surgeon. But she says there have been times where she wasn’t sure she belonged in a STEM career.
“It's like, ‘well, if there's no one else like me here, I shouldn't be here,’ she said. “But it's also like, it works both ways to me, because then I feel like, oh, there's no one here but I could be that someone and then I can be that someone where someone says, ‘Oh, she's Native American, she's a woman and she's in this field.’”
Riley said the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) has given her crucial support to stick with it. AISES is a nonprofit organization focused on advancing Indigenous peoples in STEM fields and careers and it produced the report in partnership with the Kapor Foundation.
Tiffany Smith (Cherokee and Muskogee) is director of research and career support for AISES. She said there are many reasons why there are fewer Indigenous people in STEM fields but one is a history of mistrust.
“What it comes down to is to take a step back and think about the disparities discussed in the report, as symptoms of settler colonialism and its lasting impact on the United States, from way back when in 1492,” she said.
Smith said this legacy has severely impacted educational outcomes because it led to the suppression of Native American languages, traditions and cultures. Boarding schools severed childrens’ connections to their communities as well.
“But we're still here, you know, and even despite all of that, and with intergenerational trauma, that's led to that distrust for our American educational system,” she said. “And so really, what we're looking at is that disconnect in our knowledge systems, and not even recognizing Indigenous Knowledges as being legitimate within these academic spaces. And so that has really led to a lot of the issues that we see and the challenges for our Indigenous students, really, the system has failed us,” she said.
Frieda McAlear (Inupiaq), director of seeding innovation at Kapor Foundation, said Native students aren’t even being exposed to Indigenous histories in educational institutions.
“Our students, our young people may never hear about or learn about the Pueblo Revolt, you know, in their traditional classes,” she said. “And we want to incorporate more of these types of concepts, even just the history, but Indigenous concepts and languages, and our actual shared history, in what's being taught in CS classes and what's being taught in STEM classes as well.”
CS stands for computer science. Smith adds that Indigenous cultures approach STEM in a very holistic way.
“We centered our origin stories, right, our creation stories, and talked about how we really as Indigenous peoples are the first scientists and engineers. And we did that from the start. And that's how we connected with the land and the cosmos. And so that aspect of relationality is really a major piece and reciprocity that we bring to the STEM fields,” she said.
McAlear adds that we also need to debunk the idea that STEM is a man’s world.
“There are Native women who've been part of creating the modern computing field that, again, aren't really highlighted in these classes,” she said.
Biochemistry student Salina Riley said AISES has been a big support for her.
“By giving me a support group of friends, making me feel welcomed, making me feel like there were others, like me. A field where you don't see many Native American students,” she said.
Smith said a lot of these Native students need that support as they grow from students into their professions.
“We get our students graduated, then what?,” she said. “Then they go into the workforce, and they're not very well supported there. They're not advancing in their careers necessarily, because there's not those very integral components of providing space, and mentorship within these areas.”
But McAlear said there is more work that needs to be done. That means more Native instructors teaching computing and using traditional languages and knowledge. It also means showing students there are Native people in these fields.
“That there's a future for us, we have a place where we can thrive together and support our people, and revitalize our languages and cultures,” she said.
Smith said Tribal colleges and universities should lead the way on integrating both STEM education and Indigenous knowledge. She adds students are often driven to get this education so they can give back.
“Oh, 100% I think we see a lot of our students that that's the driving force from start to finish of why they go into these fields; they see that connection to how they can serve their communities, right, and go back to their nations and really pour into them,” she said.
That’s exactly what Riley plans to do once she becomes a doctor.
When looking towards solutions, Smith said starting early with Native students while they’re young is a good start.
“The earlier that we can start resourcing our schools and talking about STEM and centering our own identities and language in the traditions, the better the outcomes will be. It's really just keeping that connection and making sure that our students have mentors that they see themselves. More of those Indigenous role models showing this really cool work,” she said.
Riley has since become a mentor for American Association of University Women’s Tech Trek, a week-long program designed to make STEM fields an exciting and attainable option for girls in middle school . She likes to give them this piece of advice.
“I'd say that it is where you're supposed to be if this is where you want to be,” she said. “And if you want it, it's achievable. And you're not alone. And that yeah, it's hard, but there's always gonna be that support system. AISES is a good support system for American Indians in STEM. And they'll always be there for you.”
Smith said finding the balance between traditional knowledge and western practices is what’s essential.
“We've always been taught that it's important to know both our own traditions and then also learning the ways of you know, the westernized world and that way we can bring that balance of two of those so not saying one is necessarily better than the other but what's a way to kind of balance both of those and bring those knowledges back to our nations and for our students and our people,” she said.
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation and KUNM listeners.
