Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

The lack of racial diversity in the US science and engineering workforce responsible for designing technology is a problem that converges with changes in technology and work. Within high tech firms, higher wages do not apply across the board, and there is a high level of job segregation by race and gender of workers. This segregation by job and field is also true in academic organizations. The organization of knowledge production work has changed alongside emergent technologies, and not always in positive ways. At the same time, emergent technologies like those powered by artificial intelligence could offer much promise for the development of new human-technology relationships, and the future of work. This organizational dimension of the problem is important because of the scope of the issue (work across many if not most sectors is affected by emergent technologies), and the existing inequalities in work (especially by race but also gender) are important to avoid replicating in new technologies, and new work arrangements. Can emerging technologies such as smart manufacturing or smart transportation be imagined in a way that increases equity and diversity? Can we organize work in a way that contributes to the quality of technologies, and the productivity and satisfaction of workers in an increasingly diverse population? This paper aims articulate the sociotechnical dimensions in understanding the challenges of shaping emergent technologies that are equitable and result in "good" jobs for a wider range of workers. How can racial and gender equity in knowledge production and technological design positively affect equitable outcomes in emerging technologies?