By Charles K. Harris
Throughout her education and career, Abi Olukeye has been acutely aware of the lack of diversity in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field.
Olukeye, a computer science major, explains that during her ascent up the career ladder, each rung seemed to bring more homogeny.
“At first [I thought] I was one of only a few African Americans and women in a room,” she said, “Then I’d realize that now I was the only African American and the only woman.”
Statistics agree. The Society of Women Engineers reports that in 2023 women comprised only 29% of all STEM jobs globally. Rates among women of color are even lower.
Even though STEM employees out-earn non-STEM workers by almost two thirds, there is a widening gap between STEM demands and qualified candidates. A 2018 Pew Research Center study reported since 1990, the US job market has grown 34%. But STEM jobs have grown 79%.
“How are we still talking about this?” asked Olukeye, after explaining the gross shortage of women and minorities in the STEM workplace has been a sorely ignored problem for decades.
The eldest of three children born in Nigeria, she said the educational culture of her home country is fiercely competitive. Additionally, her parents encouraged Olukeye to absorb as much education as possible, including core STEM subjects.
Despite a rigorous curriculum, Olukeye still faced a problem.
“You’d literally have 15 or 20 students gathered around one computer screen in class,” she said. “So I had a STEM rich environment, but lacked the tools.”
That roadblock disappeared after Olukeye’s family immigrated to the United States. Eager to embrace this opportunity, she enrolled in community college evening classes while still finishing high school.
After earning her bachelors from Virginia Tech and MBA from Indiana University, Olukeye held positions in professional development and leadership, most recently at Ingersoll Rand as head of strategy development and digital transformation.
Olukeye, who has been married for 19 years, said her career goals morphed once she became a mother to two girls, now ages 13 and 10.
Seeking a way to turn her ambition and experience into income, Olukeye created Smart Girls HQ, a learning platform designed to provide STEM education and exposure specifically to young girls.
“The goal is through exposure, girls can gain self-efficacy,” she said.
Additionally, Olukeye and her team have created Dear Smart Girl Kits which use a STEM based curriculum to help girls complete a fun and creative STEM related project.
The Smart Girls HQ platform also offers more STEM opportunities for continued engagement. As well as resources to help support parents who may feel ill equipped to assist their child with STEM discovery.
“These kits are packaged as a beautiful gift,” Olukeye said. The branding specifically for girls helps to counteract the persistent stereotypes that STEM careers are exclusively masculine pursuits or devoid of creativity.
“These kits get them interested,” she said. “Then they can believe in their capability. It’s a great gift all the way around.”
This is not where the Smart Girls HQ market ends. School systems are working with Olukeye and her team testing the ease, functionality and results of utilizing the platform in a classroom setting.
Olukeye said she hopes growth won’t just boost profits but create possibilities for young Black and brown girls who lag behind educationally at staggering rates. The larger societal issues of equality seem stalled in a morass of ambivalence and inaction.
But Olukeye has chosen action. Her goal is to continue to use research-based solutions to counteract the heavily non-inclusive STEM workforce.
When presented with the fact that experts forecast the STEM industry will continue as a mostly male, mostly white sector, her response is swift. “Nope. Not on my watch,” she said.