III
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. RES. 132
Designating March 24, 2025, as ‘‘National Women of Color in Tech Day’’.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH24, 2025
Ms. R
OSEN(for herself, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr.
F
ETTERMAN, Ms. CORTEZMASTO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. SCHIFF)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
RESOLUTION
Designating March 24, 2025, as ‘‘National Women of Color
in Tech Day’’.
Whereas National Women of Color in Tech Day acknowledges
the challenges many women of color face in the field of
technology (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘tech’’) and
recognizes and emphasizes the importance of women of
color in tech in the United States, including—
(1) Katherine Johnson, a former engineer at the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration;
(2) Marie Van Brittan Brown, who invented the first
home security system; and
(3) Patricia Bath, who invented the Laserphaco
Probe for the removal of cataracts;
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•SRES 132 IS
Whereas evidence suggests that structural and social barriers
in tech education, tech workforce development, the tech
workforce, and venture capital investment in tech can
disproportionately and negatively affect women of color;
Whereas women are underrepresented in tech, and women of
color often face additional systemic barriers in the tech
ecosystem specifically and in science, technology, engi-
neering, and mathematics (referred to in this preamble as
‘‘STEM’’) fields generally;
Whereas underrepresented minority students often face an
opportunity gap in STEM education in the United
States;
Whereas women and girls of color often face an achievement
gap in science and engineering education;
Whereas women and girls overall often face a large oppor-
tunity gap in computer science;
Whereas the competitiveness of the United States in the
21st-century global economy largely depends on devel-
oping STEM-literate citizens;
Whereas the demand for professionals in tech and computing
fields is expected to increase substantially over the next
decade;
Whereas, as of March 2023, data showed that there were
more than 750,000 open and unfilled cybersecurity jobs
in the United States;
Whereas increasing the number of women of color in tech will
be critical to building and maintaining a competitive tech
workforce;
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•SRES 132 IS
Whereas women of color currently make up 41 percent of the
female population in the United States and are projected
to make up the majority of women by 2060;
Whereas, according to the National Center for Education
Statistics, women of color in the United States earned 17
percent of bachelor’s degrees and 7 percent of doctorates
in STEM fields during the 2021–2022 school year;
Whereas the low number of women of color in tech positions
who have not received a bachelor’s degree, but who have
earned other certificates, demonstrates that women of
color may not be taking sufficient advantage of alter-
native pathways for reskilling in computing-related areas
or may not have adequate access or exposure to these
pathways;
Whereas increasing the inclusion of women of color in the
science and tech sectors can provide role models who can
inspire students of all backgrounds and identities, includ-
ing young girls of color;
Whereas diversity in any field incorporates different experi-
ences and ideas that can ultimately lead to more creative
and pioneering solutions to the current and future prob-
lems of the United States;
Whereas a May 2020 study by McKinsey and Company
shows that companies with a diverse workforce often per-
form better, hire more qualified employees, have more en-
gaged employees, and are better at retaining workers
than companies that do not prioritize diversity;
Whereas communities of color are underrepresented in cor-
porate leadership roles, including in the tech sector; and
Whereas a pipeline of qualified tech candidates of color is
critical for future growth, particularly as the tech indus-
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•SRES 132 IS
try works to improve the recruiting, hiring, and retaining
of candidates and employees of color: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the Senate— 1
(1) designates March 24, 2025, as ‘‘National 2
Women of Color in Tech Day’’; 3
(2) recognizes the celebration of National 4
Women of Color in Tech Day as a time to reflect on 5
the many notable contributions that women of color 6
have made to the field of technology in the United 7
States; 8
(3) urges the people of the United States to ob-9
serve National Women of Color in Tech Day with 10
appropriate programs and activities; 11
(4) pledges to work to increase diversity and in-12
clusion in the technology sector, including through 13
robust plans to ensure recruitment, training, and re-14
tention of underrepresented minorities at all levels; 15
(5) commits to working to eliminate barriers to 16
entering the technology sector faced by women of 17
color and individuals from other underrepresented 18
groups; 19
(6) reaffirms the commitment of the Senate to 20
ensuring that all students have access to science, 21
technology, engineering, and mathematics (referred 22
to in this resolution as ‘‘STEM’’) education for a 23
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•SRES 132 IS
21st-century economy, including computer science 1
education in particular; 2
(7) supports efforts to strengthen investments 3
in, and collaborations with, educational institutions, 4
including community colleges, historically Black col-5
leges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, 6
Asian-American, Native American, and Pacific Is-7
lander-serving institutions, Tribal Colleges and Uni-8
versities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serv-9
ing institutions, and other minority-serving institu-10
tions, to sustain a pipeline of diverse STEM grad-11
uates ready to enter the technology sector; and 12
(8) urges the President to work with Congress 13
to improve data collection, data disaggregation, and 14
dissemination of information for greater under-15
standing and transparency of diversity in STEM 16
education and across the workforce of the United 17
States. 18
Æ
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