There’s a recent report from the Kapor Foundation and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society that finds that Indigenous workers in tech are severely underrepresented in that high-paying sector — and that barriers to entry start early. 

Over the last four years, Wyoming Indian High School on the Wind River Reservation has been building a computer science program from scratch. 

Now, teacher Richard Winn says his students can earn college credit and professional certifications.

“One student has talked to the Marines, and she is planning to go Marine Corps for cybersecurity,” he said. “Two students in my tech squad have asked for recommendations for colleges because they want to go into computer maintenance.”

Winn said his students are learning skills that set them up for high-paying jobs. 

And in that sense, this program is filling an important gap, one that exists across the country, said Tiffany Smith with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. She co-wrote the report. 

“From what our data showed, only about 59% of Indigenous students attend a school offering a computer science course,” Smith said. “And that goes down to a glaring 20% when you’re looking at only high schools on reservations.”

And the lack of a K-12 foundation makes it hard for Native people to do well in college computer science programs or break into tech professions. 

“We’re really being excluded from one of our country’s greatest engines of wealth generation,” said Frieda McAlear with the Kapor Foundation. She said that hurts whole tribal economies. 

The solution, McAlear said, starts with proper funding for Native-serving public schools, including those run by the federal Bureau of Indian Education. But she said the tech sector has a role to play too. 

“We’d also love to see expanding recruitment to communities with Native talent from tech companies,” she said.

Communities like the Wind River Reservation, where teacher Richard Winn said there’s a growing pool of Shoshone and Arapaho coders and programmers and cybersecurity experts. 

“What we want to see is more tech jobs come into Wyoming,” he said, so that his students don’t have to leave their tribal communities to use their skills.