Information abounds on recent DEI expenditures, program sizes, and impact but figures are often conflicting. Here, Design World presents the quantitative data that can be gleaned (both reliably and questionably) from various sources.
Lisa Eitel • Executive editor
Recent years have seen public and private debates about the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs aimed at promoting the fair treatment and full participation in organizations and industries by people of all backgrounds.
In the U.S., widespread horror at the public asphyxiation of George Perry Floyd Jr. on May 25, 2020 along with anti-Asian violence amid the COVID pandemic spurred a rapid uptick in DEI program introductions and expansions. Cooling these efforts were a spate of 2023 and 2024 state bills prohibiting certain race and gender studies, the Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA) on June 29, 2023 (ruling race-based admissions policies unconstitutional), and a series of presidential orders starting January 20, 2025.
U.S. statistics from sources such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and Census Bureau have been subject to dataset-update interruptions, staff and funding cuts, and in some cases the elimination of granular breakdowns of engineering-field information related to race, ethnicity, and gender identity.
So, filling some of the informational gap is DEI-related grey literature in the form of unpublished research, policy documents, theses, conference proceedings, and reports from organizations and researchers not formally funded or distributed via traditional channels.
In addition, surveys by professional associations such as the Society of Women Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and National Society of Black Engineers (along with independent research from Deloitte, McKinsey, RAEng, and others) often yield valuable particulars about groups’ perceptions of STEM-career challenges and benefits.
In Canada, a leading data source remains Statistics Canada or StatCan — the country’s federal statistical agency tasked with regularly publishing in-depth data on ethnocultural diversity, Indigenous peoples, immigration, and other statistics related to demographics.
Compared to those in the U.S., Canadian DEI programs are older (especially as evidenced by the 1982 Multiculturalism Act), more developed, and entrenched into cultural, legal, and governmental bodies to ensure representation of women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities.
Though subject to setbacks and challenges, DEI spending as well as Federal Employment Equity Act and diversity disclosure rules are less controversial than similar programs in the U.S. Perhaps it’s no wonder with Canada’s population of 23% immigrant, 26.5% minority, and 5% Indigenous peoples as of 2021.
Following are statistics on DEI programs, minority involvement, and other demographic trends in the field of engineering and manufacturing for both Canada and the U.S.
Percent of U.S. engineers 55 or older: 25
Percent of U.S. manufacturing workforce 55 or older: 25
U.S. manufacturing jobs to go unfilled in the U.S. by 2030: 2.1M
Minimum cost of unfilled manufacturing positions to the U.S. economy over 10 years: $2.5T
Potential cost for each instance a federal contractor billed the U.S. federal government and violated Executive Order 14173 outlawing programs for women and underrepresented minorities: Treble damages plus $14,000 to $28,000
Cost to train a CNC machine operator: $3,000 to $13,000
Percent of U.S. tool and die makers, CNC operators, and machinists aged 50 to 64: 38.8
Percent of machinists who are men: 92.6
Suicide rate of U.S. working males: 32.0 per 100,000
Overall suicide rate of U.S. females: 8.0 per 100,000
Hours of sworn testimony Boeing whistleblower and quality-control manager John Barnett gave in the days before his 2024 suicide: 11 to 14
Suicide rate of U.S. males working in aerospace products and parts manufacturing: 147.5 per 100,000
2023 compensation of Boeing’s CEO (2020 to 2024) and board of directors member (2009 to 2020) David L. Calhoun: $32.8M
Calhoun’s minimum 2022 compensation counting stock positions: $22.5M
Percent by which real wages (adjusted for inflation) of U.S. working men stagnated or declined since 1979: -4 to +8
2024 net worth of all 1,135 U.S. billionaires: $5.7T
1970 percent of U.S. aggregate household income going to middle class families: 62
2022 percent: 43
Minimum years that the disparity between working-class and middle to upper-class employees’ financial satisfaction and work exhaustion increasingly diverged: 52
Percent increase of white male leaders’ trust and integrity ratings by direct reports after participating in diversity and inclusion labs: 6 to 10
Percent of manufacturers that say they will have ongoing difficulties in attracting and retaining workers in 2021 and beyond: 77
Percent of U.S. architecture and engineering professionals who are Black: 5.9
Minimum percentage of U.S. population that is Black: 14.4
Minimum percent by which U.S. primary and secondary-school budgets in White neighborhoods exceed those in neighborhoods serving students of color: 16
Return on investment for every $1 spent on early childhood programs: $4 to $9
Number of children losing access to afterschool STEM programs due to recent cuts affecting semiconductor-focused CHIPS Act budgeting: 1.4M
Percent by which students in private-school voucher programs rose 2020 to 2025: 100
Percent of voucher dollars spent at religious schools (Catholic or evangelical Christian-affiliated): 88.9
Difference between private and public-school students’ mathematics scores when accounting for socioeconomic background: 0
Percent increased likelihood a student will stay in an engineering track if supported by an intervention to impart feelings of belonging: 15 to 20
Percent by which DEI mentions in S&P 100 firms’ 2025 filings dropped from 2024 mention counts: 68
Percent of S&P 100 firms that shrunk or removed DEI-related targets: 21
2020 peak of U.S. corporate spending on DEI programs: $7.5B
Percent of science and engineering workforce who are women: 28
Percentage of engineers in the U.S. who are women (2024): 17.4
Percentage of mechanical engineers who are women: 11
Percent of U.S. population that is Hispanic: 19
Percentage of mechanical engineers who are Hispanic: 7.1
2025 federal earmarks for DEI according to Christian nationalist thinktank Center for Renewing America — $1.1T
Authoritative federal budgets or department audits that track total dollars for DEI: 0
Maximum number of employees at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) after recent reductions: 20
Percent by which LGBQ students are less likely than straight students to complete STEM programs: 10
Percent by which LGBTQ STEM professionals are more likely to experience workplace harassment compared to peers: 30
Percent of Canada’s population that is female: 50.34
Percent of licensed engineers, engineers‐in‐training, and student members of Engineers Canada who are women: 15.4
Surveyed Canadian manufacturer losses in one year due to projects unfulfilled resulting from labor and skill shortages: CAD $12.6B
Canadian companies participating in the 50-30 Challenge promoting gender parity and 30% representation of equity-deserving groups in leadership: 2,853
Canada’s 1.5M workers in the science and technology sector 55 or older: 320,000
Percent of surveyed Canadian employers reporting 2023 DEI budgets had stayed the same or increased over the previous year: 81
Percent of surveyed Canadian employers reporting 2024 DEI budgets had stalled or rolled back as compared to the previous year: 38
