Latino high-tech entrepreneurs have math in the blood

By Julia Perez, Being Latino

“Age discrimination in Latin America is the reason why so many people start their own business.”

This is the opinion of some which I won’t argue either way. I’d rather focus on a trend here in the U.S.  Rates for Hispanic or Latino owned businesses  between the years 2002 and 2007, increased by 43% to 2.3 million.  While I think this is encouraging, a census report indicates that 50% of revenues are from wholesale trade, construction and retail trade. Why not more high-tech?

The new program,  Manos Accelerator, is trying to address the fact that  less than 1% of venture-backed startups are founded by Latinos. The program encourages Latino entrepreneurs in the high-tech industry from the U.S. or Latin America to apply. If accepted, the program, located in San Jose, California, will offer mentorship, hands-on education, business resources, infrastructure, and capital.  The three members of the Manos Accelerator Leadership team are Latino but the only engineer on the team is a woman. Sylvia Flores is both an engineer and entrepreneur. Sylvia, a Chemical Engineer, was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003 from Latino Style Magazine.  She served as Regional National Vice President for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.  She also worked with President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, to establish a technology incubator for Mexican entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. As the youth say “You go, Chica.”

I’m pleased about some positive trends but I’m still left wondering why so few Latinos here in the U.S. enter engineering or STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) careers. The statistic from the National Science Foundation show that Hispanics Graduate Degrees  from 2001 -2010 only increased from 5.5 to 7%.  In 2010, Latino men represented 4% of working scientists and engineers while Latina women were only 2%. Why are our numbers still so low? What is holding us back.  In Stand and Deliver, the character Jaime Escalante said “Did you know that neither the Greeks nor the Romans were capable of using the concept of zero? It was your ancestors, the Mayans, who first contemplated the zero. You burros have math in your blood…”

This article was first published in Being Latino.

Julia Perez is an electrical engineer and Staff Writer for Being Latino.