Space industry CEOs pledge to create more inclusive workforce

Companies said they will ‘significantly increase the number of women and employees from underrepresented groups’

COLORADO SPRINGS – Top executives from the space industry on April 5 signed a pledge to advance diversity across the workforce.

During an event at the 37th Space Symposium, 23 executives committed to “diversity equity and inclusion,” a term used to describe policies and programs that promote the representation and participation of different races and ethnicities, genders, religions and cultures.

The “Space Workforce 2030” pledge commits these companies to annual reporting of data on diversity in their collective technical workforce, and to work with universities to increase the number of diverse and underrepresented students in technical fields needed in the space industry.

The companies agreed to take action to achieve the following results by 2030:

Significantly increase the number of women and employees from underrepresented groups in our collective technical workforce
Significantly increase the number of women and employees from underrepresented groups who hold senior leadership positions in our collective technical workforce
Work with universities to increase the percentages of women and students from underrepresented groups receiving aerospace engineering degrees to levels commensurate with overall engineering programs
Sponsor K-12 programs that collectively reach over 5,000,000 underrepresented students annually
Meet twice a year at the working level to exchange best practices on strengthening diversity recruitment, STEM education outreach and representation at leadership levels
Seek like-minded leaders and organizations to join this effort

It’s important for the industry to have a plan for diversity, equity and inclusion, Steve Isakowitz, president and CEO of the Aerospace Corp., told SpaceNews.

“We’re fortunately going through a period of great growth,” he said. “The markets are hot and we do need to expand our workforce to include those who maybe haven’t had as much opportunity to participate.”

A more inclusive workforce also is important for innovation, said Isakowitz. “Innovation without a doubt works better when you get people with diverse backgrounds and diverse perspectives, and frankly our breakthroughs of tomorrow are going to be driven by having a more diverse workforce.”

Signatories of “Space Workforce 2030”