Measuring Racial and Ethnic Representation in 21st Century High Technology Self-employment

Scholarly literature and popular media outlets document the lack of racial and ethnic diversity and inclusion among technology sector employees, however; racial and ethnic disparities in technology entrepreneurship are not well documented or understood. The factors that contribute to a more racially and ethnically homogenous tech workforce may produce similar outcomes in tech entrepreneurship. Conversely, unfavorable tech labor market conditions for underrepresented and minoritized groups could push them to pursue entrepreneurship or self-employment as an alternative. This study is the first to comprehensively estimate racial and ethnic representation within the universe of technology entrepreneurs in the US during the first two decades of the 21st century. We develop a metric to measure then assess racial and ethnic representation in tech entrepreneurship that accounts for selection into tech industries. Black, Hispanic, and Asian workers are less likely to be self-employed in tech industries than their White counterparts. Disparities persist over time even when controlling for STEM education, immigration status, and other observable characteristics. Our findings motivate an agenda for future research examining the mechanisms that produce and reproduce racial inequality in tech entrepreneurship