Biomedical Engineering Jobs on the Rise; Mentoring to Boost Diversity in Biomedical Research

A positive outlook lies ahead for biomedical engineering jobs which are projected to grow in the years to come. At the same time, a research mentoring program led by the Boston College is designed to boost diversity in the field of biomedical research.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of biomedical engineers is projected to grow 27 percent from 2012 to 2022, much faster than the average for all occupations. Demand will be strong because an aging population is likely to need more medical care and because of increased public awareness of biomedical engineering advances and their benefits. These biomedical engineering jobs command a median pay of $41.81 per hour/$86,960 per year; hence, it is a good career to get into.

Based on a report by the National Science Foundation, employment patterns in the biomedical sciences have changed in the past two decades. The growth in the number of doctorates trained in the field has far surpassed the growth in academic positions, contributing to lengthy postdoc appointments, stiff competition for academic jobs, and an increasing proportion of doctorates going into positions that are not research-intensive (National Institutes of Health [NIH] 2012).

The report also says women and minorities are still underrepresented in the field of science & engineering (S & E) in general. This gender gap in S&E employment is found in all racial and ethnic groups. For example, among S&E highest degree holders working full time, S&E jobs are held by 43% of Asian women compared to 58% of Asian men, 22% of black women compared to 32% of black men, 19% of Hispanic women compared to 37% of Hispanic men, and 24% of white women compared to 41% of white men. The participation gap exists despite the trend that increasing proportions of women in all racial and ethnic groups are graduating from college. Read more of the report here:

Thus, the research mentoring program led by Boston College will be of great benefit. Research teams from Boston College and four other universities will develop the National Research Mentoring Network through a five-year, $19-million grant from the National Institutes of Health as part of a sweeping initiative to diversify the ranks of biomedical researchers across the United States, the NIH announced. The National Research Mentoring Network is one of three areas within the NIH's Enhancing Diversity of the NIH-Funded Workforce Program, a five-year initiative unveiled by NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins. Read more here:

Diversity Jobs Should Increase with America's Diversity on the Rise

America's diversity is on the rise, as shown by the demographic analysis by the USA Today. The USA TODAY Diversity Index shows diversity has surged in the last 50 years and is expected to continue rising. The U.S. index rose from 20 in 1960 to 55 in 2010. With this rise in diversity, therefore, an increase in diversity jobs is an imperative.

Racial and ethnic diversity is spreading far beyond the coasts and into surprising places across the U.S. Cities and towns far removed from traditional urban gateways such as New York, Miami, Chicago and San Francisco are rapidly becoming some of the most diverse places in America, an analysis of demographic data by USA Today shows. The U.S. is experiencing a "great wave" of immigration — call it a "second great wave."

The changes are so widespread they have even reversed the trend in some places. Counties along the Texas border — notably El Paso — have become less diverse as Hispanics have grown to make up more than 90 percent of the population. Read more here:

At the same time, more Americans seem to welcome greater diversity. In a USA Today poll, 49 percent of respondents said the country will be "better off" as more communities diversify and no single racial or ethnic group has a majority. A quarter of respondents said the country would be "worse off."

Due to the rising diversity of America's demography, it is essential that minorities must get all the help they need in order “to fully participate in the entrepreneurial economy, nor the education they need to staff the workforce in the service/knowledge economy. Although overt, intentional discrimination has become socially and legally unacceptable in US society, the situation facing minorities destines all but a few of them to remain an economic underclass,” according to Dr. Leonard Greenhalgh in his article, “When Minorities Become the Majority – The Vision for 2050.”

Microsoft's CEO Initiates New Diversity Effort

Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella has recently announced in a memo plans for a new company-wide diversity effort which is said to “defuse growing furor over his comments that women should not ask for a raise but trust that "karma" will reward them.”

Nadella again apologized to employees for the remarks he made at a women's technology conference, saying in a companywide memo this week that it was a "humbling and learning experience,” the USA Today reported.

The tech industry is wanting in women and minorities holding diversity information technology jobs. Microsoft, like many other companies in the IT, consumer electronics and social networking spaces has been found to be sorely lacking when it comes to employee diversity with significant gender and ethnic diversity gaps in key areas such as engineering and leadership positions.

Microsoft's female employees in the United States earn 99.7 percent of what men earned in similar positions last year, Nadella said in a new memo to workers this week. He suggested that such slight variations are not unusual for "any particular group," but he added that he wants to increase the numbers of women and minorities in the company's workforce. In addition to mandatory training on "diversity and inclusion," Nadella also vowed to step up efforts to "recruit more diverse talent to Microsoft at all levels of the company."

The data regarding employee pay in the United States is encouraging, but hardly complete. Microsoft is a multinational outfit, with employees spread around the globe. It would be good of Microsoft to release more detailed statistics on a per-country basis. That data would help women around the world better understand the labor dynamics in their countries. And it would help the technology industry better understand where pay gaps based on gender are wider — that could help people ask for the raises that they deserve, according to Tech Crunch.

Situations that reveal biasness in workplace environment

The enhancement of technology all around, the opening up of the world economy and globalization of markets are some of the key forces that reveal organizations need to innovate. Thus, the dynamics of the current corporate environment hints that more creative and innovative you are, more will be your chances to excel.  This is probably the reason why employers and firms have acknowledged the immense fruitfulness of encouraging diversity jobs, promoting diversity in workplace and fetching talents from different corners to build up an enriched manpower resource.  

However, encouraging jobs diversity is not as easy as it might sound. All the efforts of the organization can become futile if the management fails to understand the challenges of diversity in workplace. Slightest of mistake can make the management appear biased! Therefore, you need to analyze where these firms go wrong.

·         System related errors

Some workplaces make strict rules about dress codes. Some others follow a specific mode for advertising that they have vacancies. Yet few others encourage candidates who represent a specific background.  Although these firms  do not mean to discriminate between their employees, such systems automatically promote biasness! Actually, when you specify a dress code you actually target towards the beliefs and customs of a particular community or creed. Same unintentional mistake  prevails in  case of the advertising modes and background specifications of job applicants too. 

·         Attitudinal flaws of the management

Some employers have a typical tendency of favoring employees who belong to their caste, creed, community or sex. Although these employers might not have anything in mind and might  encourage diversity jobs instead, their intentions are looked upon with skepticism. You can consider this as serious management diversity error that needs  meticulous training. 

·         Inhospitable work environment

There are times when the employees are the actual culprits and the management is unnecessarily held responsible for discouraging workplace environment.  It has often been found that lack of transparency between the management and the workforce encourages such situations. When you remain oblivious your staffs and do not know what they do, you indirectly support the malpractices that they encourage in workplace. 

Hottest Jobs Now Part 2

DiversityWorking.com comes up with the 2^nd of two parts regarding the hottest diversity jobs in the market now in the state of Colorado.

1. An opening for Sales Associate is available at Beaver Liquors, located at CO, Avon, and the best person for the job is an honest, hard-working and customer service oriented person.

2. The position for Housing Director for Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority, a regular, full-time job, is needed by The City of Aspen, Colorado, an Equal Opportunity Employer.

3. A job opening for a Girls Basketball Coach is needed at the Aspen High School, located At CO, Aspen. The successful candidate shall begin duties in November.

4. The positions for Teacher– for the preschool infant room and elementary school, grade 3, are needed by the Aspen School District, located at CO, Aspen.

5. Winter Seasonal Transit Operators are needed by the Town of Breckenridge, CO, an Equal Opportunity Employer. Requirements for the job are current CDL Class B with P2 endorsement or qualified to train for a CDL. One must also have excellent customer service skills, a clean driving record and the ability to pass the required drug screenings.

6. Job openings for Administrative Assistant, and Camp Cook are available at the Keystone Science School, located in CO, Keystone.

7. Job opening for Police Officer II, for the Aspen Police Department, a regular, full-time position, is available at The City of Aspen, located at CO, Aspen.

8. A Visual Merchandiser is needed by Slifer Designs, located at CO, Edwards, who will be in-charge of creating attractive and stylish room displays, providing ideas that excite the customer and making it entertaining to be in the store. To qualify, one must be mature, dependable, motivated; has the abilty to pay attention to details. One must also have a minimum of 5 years of visual merchandising experience and knowledge of furniture.

9. The position for a full time Teller is open at Firstbank, a “Top Work Place” and an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, located at CO, Summit County. Customer service and cash handling experience is preferred, but not required.

To view more details and apply for any of the jobs, click on the respective links.

DiversityWorking Information Technology Virtual Diversity Career Fair

DiversityWorking.com announces its Information Technology Career Fair currently ongoing from October 8^th - 15^th, 2014. Five of its prestigious diversity member companies are participating in this big event, each a leading name in their field and an Equal Opportunity Employer. 

• KPMG LLP, an audit, tax and advisory firm, and a member firm of the global KPMG International Cooperative;
• AutoDesk, a fully diversified software company that provides targeted solutions for creating, managing, and sharing digital assets;
• Hewlett-Packard (HP), a world leader in information technology, with operations in 170 countries and a ranking member of Fortune 500;
• Information Services Group (ISG), leading technology insights, market intelligence and advisory services company, serving more than 500 clients around the world to help them achieve operational excellence;
• Stratus Technologies, a leading technology company providing solutions that enable rapid deployment of always-on infrastructures, from enterprise servers to clouds, without any changes to applications. 

Each of these diversity companies have a line-up of information technology job opportunities including Forensic Technology, Project Manager, Web Development, Database Managers, and many more thousands of jobs in the Information Technology Industry awaiting successful candidates. All those interested to launch their careers with any of these 5 leading companies are enjoined to come visit the Information Technology Virtual Diversity Career Expo.

DiversityWorking.com is the largest diversity job board online with a mission to provide job seekers with thousands of positions to search for, matching many different professional careers and experience levels. Products and services include a resume database, job search engine, and targeted corporate diversity branding opportunities.

Hottest Jobs Now Part 1

This is the 1^st of two parts regarding the hottest jobs in the market now in the state of Colorado.

1. B2B Ecommerce Customer Support are needed by Trupar.com for its location in CO, Basalt, who will be working through multiple service channels in order to consistently provide a high level of customer service which includes providing product and service information and responding to inquiries; resolving product and service problems; and documenting actions.

2. Positions for Receptionist/Administrative Assistant, and FT/Development Assistant, both of which are full-time positions, are available at Aspen Art Museum, located at CO, Aspen. The FT/Receptionist/Administrative Assistant will provide general office support with a variety of clerical activities and related tasks, while the FT/Development Assistant is in-charge of providing administrative support for all Development Department functions and is responsible for data processing, planning assistance, implementation and staffing museum special events, among others.

3. A Licensed Plumber is needed at CO, Aspen. To qualify, one must possess excellent work ethic and integrity.

4. Positions for part time /full time Direct Support Professionals, are open at Mountain Valley Developmental, for its locations at CO, Glenwood Springs & Carbondale. This job involves assisting adults with disabilities in their homes. Tasks include direct care, meal prep, cleaning and community activities; multi-tasking is a must. One must have a High School Diploma or GED, preferrably with CNA certification or 1 year experience. 

Computer proficiency, communication and strong customer service skills are required.

5. Experienced Finisher needed at Heartwood Custom Woodworks, Inc., located at CO, Eagle. The position is full-time, and requires spray room experience, the ability to follow detailed instructions regarding workmanship, and experience in spraying lacquer and color-matching is highly desired. 

To apply for any of the jobs above, click on the respective links.

Watch for: Hottest Jobs Now Part 2