Allegheny Women's Biotechnology Workforce Collaborative: Investing in Disadvantaged Populations with Technology

Introduction

Once an industrial giant, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has undergone a transformation from steel city to a biomedical research hub, a region in need of a qualified science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) and healthcare workforce. In an area where blue-collar jobs were once plentiful, there are now economically depressed communities with many families, most headed by women, who seek an opportunity to regain their economic independence. Many of these women were displaced early from academics or the workplace for a variety of circumstances, such as teen-age pregnancy, economic or domestic difficulties or the learned hopelessness that comes from living in a depressed community located on the north shore of the city. The Northside is composed of a diverse group of 14 identifiable neighborhoods. Their demographics represent the greater Pittsburgh community at large, half are African American and half are Caucasian, (see Table 1). Participants of the

^{1- (Northside United, 2008)}

^{2- (Pittsburgh United, 2007)}

^{3- (RAND Education, 2006) Northside data from Oliver High School}

^{4 – (American Community Survey, 2006)}

^{5- (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2007)}