As students head back to school, we are profiling educators at the forefront of learning innovation in the Pittsburgh region. This week: How science teacher Venneasha Davis listened to her students and designed an afterschool STEAM program for girls—with a waitlist.

Access to and use of technology and the opportunities that come with it, fall along race, class, and gender lines. It’s why when educators push for greater technology integration in education, equity has to be central to any effort in order for tech to propel, not hinder, a more equal shot at a STEAM career.

Our STEM workforce is no bastion of balance when it comes to race or gender. But the inequity doesn’t start with the hiring committee. Instead, as a new study reaffirms, workforce issues reflect childhood disparities.