Creating Tomorrow’s STEM Leaders: Why Diversity Will Crack the Code

I often get asked if I’m proud to be the first female chief executive of a major automaker. On one hand, I’m proud to lead General Motors and the truly dedicated professionals who make great cars, trucks and crossovers for our customers. On the other hand, I’d like to normalize the oddity of a woman succeeding in a STEM-related field.

When I get the chance to chat with young girls, one of my favorite things is to ask them what they want to do when they grow up. I’ve met with amazing students who are building robots, designing complex web applications and acing their science and math courses. One girl told me she wanted to create makeup — I told her, “That’s chemistry!” Having a strong foundation in science and math allows you to approach whatever you want to do successfully.

Yet I’ve also talked with girls who feel isolated in male-dominated classes, lack mentors or are afraid to take risks for fear of failing. These girls need a path, they need support, they need more role models. All young girls start out believing they can do or be anything they want. Then, along the way, someone tells them that a career in technology requires a lot of math … and they hesitate. Just like that, it’s over. The dream vanishes and young women choose not to pursue science, technology, engineering and math fields.

You don’t need a background in calculus to understand that we are underserving our communities, customers and ourselves by building a tomorrow without diversity. General Motors fills a STEM-related position every 26 minutes, and since only one-third of the talent pool are women, it’s clear we have work to do.

So today, we’re intensifying our efforts to develop tomorrow’s STEM leaders, because driving the future of mobility will depend on a deep and diverse talent pool that better reflects the people who buy our products and services.

I am proud to join the leaders of five nonprofit groups who are developing new, innovative programs that will intensify our efforts to build tomorrow’s STEM talent. Earlier this year we joined forces with Girls Who Code, and now we’re expanding our scope by partnering with Code.org, Black Girls Code, Institute of Play and Digital Promise. Our partners and their programs bring unique approaches to reaching students at an early age — especially girls and underrepresented minorities — to instill the skills and a love of learning that will guide them through college and beyond.

As our industry continues its transformation, expanding and improving access to STEM education is not only crucial to our ability to innovate, it helps communities attract and keep good jobs that will drive the future.

We have a lot of work to do to crack the code. Creating tomorrow takes passion. It takes hard work. It takes everyone. Please join General Motors and our partners on this quest to encourage young women and girls to consider learning more about science, technology, engineering and math. Together we can build a better tomorrow than we ever dreamed possible.