Inclusiveness ignites a spark for businesses

Having a diverse workforce can help companies be more creative, solve problems, lower turnover and improve profitability, according to industry experts.

But plastics companies face hurdles in efforts to hire a more diverse workforce. Black and Hispanic employees remain underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce despite its considerable growth, while the number of women varies widely across job clusters.

"The plastics industry is very far behind other industries," said Wesleyne Greer, CEO and founder of Transformed Sales, a Houston-based sales management training firm.

"We see a lot of things in the news about tech companies because they're out in front of this and very vocal about the strides they are making. But in our industry, it's something we're sweeping under the rug. We're not even really talking about it," she said.

Of the 137.4 million U.S. workers age 25 and up, 63 percent are white, 17 percent are Hispanic, 11 percent are Black, 6 percent are Asian and 3 percent are other (Native American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander).

However, the breakdown is very different for the 19.1 million positions in the STEM fields, which cover positions related to computers, math, engineering, architecture, physical science, life science, and health practitioners and technicians. When it comes to STEM employees, 67 percent are white, 13 percent are Asian, 9 percent are Black, 8 percent are Hispanic and 3 percent are other.

The figures were released this year in a Pew Research Center analysis of federal employment and education data. The Washington-based nonpartisan think tank looked at 74 STEM occupations, including chemical and material engineers.

Greer, who started her career as a chemist and also worked in technical sales for a Houston-based resin supplier, is troubled by the findings. She said a diverse workforce ignites what the plastics industry needs: creativity, problem-solving and innovation.

Greer has been advocating for change when speaking to groups like the Society of Plastics Engineers. She told SPE members at a recent webinar about the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM fields and how to improve their company culture so everyone's voice can be heard.

In 2019, 19.1 million workers age 25 and up had STEM jobs in the U.S. That's an increase of 1.8 million since 2016, Pew Research Center says. But the employee breakdown has changed little.

The gap in STEM workforce representation is still large for Hispanic adults. Although their share of STEM jobs is up 1 percent since 2016, the increase is in line with their growth in the overall workforce. They make up 17 percent of total employment across all occupations, but just 8 percent of all STEM workers.

There has been no change in the share of Black workers in STEM jobs since 2016. Black workers make up 11 percent of all employed adults but hold 9 percent of overall STEM occupations and as few as 5 percent of jobs in some clusters like engineering and architecture.

And while women comprise 50 percent of STEM workers, which is slightly higher than their share in the overall workforce (47 percent), they are overrepresented among health-related jobs, the largest STEM occupational cluster, and underrepresented in job clusters like physical sciences, computing and engineering.

Women make up 74 percent of health care practitioners and technicians while accounting for 25 percent of those working in computer occupations and 15 percent of those in the ranks of engineers and architects.

Diverse workplaces have employees that differ by gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, background, disability, culture and age. They offer a variety of perspectives, talents and experiences.

Beyond the makeup of the workforce, businesses need to practice equity and inclusion, Greer said, suggesting company managers embrace differences as strengths to foster innovation, reduce turnover and increase profitability.

Greer compares the steps toward an equitable workplace to a dance party. Essentially, she said, diversity invites you to the party or to sit at the table. Inclusion asks you to dance. And, equity asks what music makes you feel most at home.

"Equity is valuing someone else's opinion," Greer said.

Businesses are simply checking boxes if they hire diverse candidates but don't take extra steps to make them feel part of a team.

"After two or three years, they wash out because they don't feel included. They don't feel like their voice has been heard," Greer said.

Promoting inclusion can be as simple as having a potlucks and team-building activities.

"Bring a dish from your nationality or a reminder of growing up. That is inclusion. That's what we need to do," Greer said.

With STEM jobs expected to outpace non-STEM jobs in the coming years, confronting diversity, inclusion and equity issues is even more pressing, Greer said.

Pew Research Center puts STEM employment growth at 9.2 percent through 2029 compared to an economy-wide employment growth of 3.7 percent.

Then, there are issues related to pay gaps within the STEM fields. STEM jobs rank higher on the pay scale with median annual earnings of $77,400 compared to $50,900 for all jobs, according to the Pew Research Center.

However, there are sizeable pay gaps between men and women and across racial and ethnic groups in STEM professions.

Asian men are the highest STEM earners with median salaries of $103,300 followed by white men at $90,600, Asian women at $88,600, Hispanic men at $73,000, Black men at $69,200, white women at $66,200, and Black and Hispanic women at $57,000.

Greer has a theory about the disparity in STEM earnings.

"As Blacks and Hispanics, we have been taught to work hard. We haven't been taught to go network, to go talk to someone, to show others I'm doing really well," Greer said. "We think hard work will move us up the chain. We don't have allies. We don't have mentors in these companies."

Greer consults with a variety of industries about creating collaborative, dynamic environment in which employees feel supported. She shared a personal experience about being a minority at one conference.

When she arrived, she scanned the crowd.

"Nobody there looked like me," Greer recalled. "That's OK; I was used to that."

During one conversation, however, Greer said a university professor looked at her and said: "Back in those days you wouldn't have been allowed on campus. I don't know if it's because you're Black or because you're a woman."

Greer said she was taken aback and wondered, "Why does he think that's OK to say out loud? Then, I started thinking, you're a professor. Are you being fair to your students? Are you ensuring they're getting the best of you? Do you have a bias?"

As thoughts raced through her mind, Greer said a colleague spoke up.

"I had an ally who asked him, 'Why did you say that? What was the reason for even including that in the conversation?,'" Greer said, urging others to be as supportive. "Stand up for people. Don't be that person who sees something going wrong and not do anything."

In her talk to SPE, Greer compared inclusion to a semi-crystalline structure as opposed to an amorphous polymer that has molecules oriented randomly but intertwined like cooked spaghetti.

In semicrystalline polymers, the molecules pack together in ordered regions called crystallites.

"That is what inclusion is," Greer said. "Inclusion is assuring everyone within your company is integrated into everything — not just a few activities."

She pointed to another conference she attended with two events scheduled for socializing and networking: a fishing trip the first day and golf the next.

"Those were not activities inclusive of everyone," Greer said. "What if someone had a disability, was blind or couldn't use their hands?"

The topic of diversity and attracting talent also was addressed at the American Mold Builders Association conference, which was held June 22-24 in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Business executives were advised to update branding, show applicants clean high-tech, exciting place to work and embrace the benefits of a diverse workforce, including employee retention.

"Companies that have less than 10 percent turnover also have 40 percent more diversity in their business. Women, African Americans and Hispanics work in the shop." Laurie Harbour, president and CEO of Harbour Results Inc., said of the tooling sector.

Unfortunately, some business haven't made much progress to diversify their workforce, she added.

"This year I have visited a number of shops that said they'd love to hire women, but they don't have a women's bathroom on the shop floor. That's a problem," Harbour said. "We are limiting the pool of people we're going after because we're looking for middle-aged white men. We need to change that."

A diverse employee group provides several advantages. Harbour said a lower turnover leads to a 21 percent increase in efficiency based on the firm's data, which helps the bottom line.

"Companies that are more diverse are more profitable in their overall business," Harbour said. "They improve their problem-solving capability by putting different-minded people at the same table and they enjoy higher retention rates."

Harbour also advises companies to put someone solely in charge of human resources if they still lump together those duties with marketing. In the tooling sector, 35 percent of businesses align HR and marketing, she said.

"An HR person doesn't know how to market your business and a marketing person doesn't know how to hire somebody, but the two of them together are unstoppable," Harbour said.

Greer suggests more outreach to young adults.

"If a company is truly engaged and they want to build that diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace, they should have partnerships within the community or university to ensure they can cultivate students — the next generation of engineers and scientists," Greer said. "We have to start at the college level because that's our pipeline."

See the full coverage of PN's special diversity report here.