I'm not sure it is a secret. Even the mass media know that engineers are all white and Asian (Indian, Vietnamese and Chinese mostly). But the problem starts much earlier. If you don't study math seriously when you are age 12 (or don't have good math teachers) then you will not get a masters in CS or EE which is the bar to even get an interview at somewhere like Intel. I don't think even Intel and a lot of money can fix that problem at age 25.
Hi Paul,
I think your "perception" of the industry is dated.
Just to let you know, there are very few white Americans left in the semiconductor industry, especially the younger generation (i.e., 20 to 30 age group).
Many of white Americans left are in marketing, management, (i.e., middle, senior, or executive) or principle / senior level engineers nearing retirement / forced termination.
I come to this conclusion based on what I see at trade shows and what I have seen at various tier-1 / tier-2 SV semiconductor / electronics companies during on-site interview.
If there is a lack of diversity, I think the industry lack in hiring Americans of any ethnicity (This will include Asian Americans, in addition to various other Americans like white Americans.) since I have seen some semiconductor companies have almost no American engineering staff.
Many media journalists still hold the old view that white Americans are holding up well in "STEM" jobs.
Perhaps, this might be true in Internet related industries (i.e., Google, Facebook), but as far as semiconductor industry is concerned, this is not the case (only for senior positions).
Another myth you seem to believe is the capabilities of master's degree students.
I have had multiple opportunities to take a look at the capabilities of M.S.E.E. students at one public university in California (not considered a top tier university).
Personally, they have very little knowledge or technologies used in the industry (i.e., sat in their SoC design class several times) nor they really know much beyond what an entry level person will know about Verilog, and this is for those who specialized in ASIC / FPGA design.
Please note that this university's M.S.E.E. program is 97% foreign students.
Also, some of the instructors who teach the classes know that many, if not all students there engage in academic dishonesty (i.e., copying someone else's Verilog code or forming groups with someone who knows how to do the Verilog project and do nothing), yet are obtaining M.S.E.E. from this university.
Based on this, I no longer believe master's degree mean much these days.
Maybe this master's degree worship needs to end in the industry.
