Northrop Grumman, a leading global security company, is consistently looking to increase diversity in its workforce. Northrop Grumman understands the importance of diversity and inclusion within its ranks. In 2018, DiversityInc ranked the company number 23 among its Top 50 Companies for Diversity. But as with all STEM employers, there’s more work to be done.
According to the Pew Research Center, blacks and other minorities are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs, relative to their presence in the overall U.S. workforce, particularly among workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
In fact, blacks and Hispanics made up 27 percent of the overall U.S. workforce as of 2016, but together they accounted for only 16 percent of those employed in STEM occupations. Past studies have raised a number of possible reasons for this underrepresentation, including the need for racially and ethnically diverse mentors to attract these groups to the fields, limited access to quality education, discrimination in recruitment and promotions and a lack of encouragement to pursue STEM from an early age.
Florida A&M University’s connection with Northrop Grumman is deep-rooted. For years the company has supported the growth of the university’s students, including students in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. In August 2018, several students from FAMU-FSU Engineering returned from their second internship with the company. Alexis Riley, a senior industrial engineering major from Indianapolis, worked for Northrop Grumman in Baltimore, made possible in part by a housing stipend from Northrop Grumman. Kosi Sumpter, a third year mechanical engineering major from Atlanta worked at the Northrop Grumman location in Melbourne, Florida.
Distinguishing oneself in the midst of over hundreds of other interns can be challenging. Northrop Grumman hires more than 2,000 interns from over 300 different universities nationwide. Even with these large numbers, last summer’s FAMU students made an impression at the company.
In Sumpter’s first summer at the company he was tasked with the creation of a new fabrication lab for employees, a place for students to work on any passion-project of theirs involving 3D printing, Desktop CNCs, Raspberry Pi CNCs and more. One of the machines required a physical safety enclosure and instead of ordering it, Sumpter built it himself—saving Northrop Grumman resources. To recognize his work, the company engraved his name on the enclosure.
This past summer, Sumpter returned to the “fab lab” to revisit his work. A new moderator of the station didn’t know who Kosi was, but noticed he and the person who built the safety enclosure shared the same name.
“It was really nice to see that I made an impact,” Sumpter said. “This is my contribution to the company—that somebody can come and see that this kid from Florida A&M University built this machine.”
Intern tasks range from work that promotes technical efficiency in the workplace to those supporting company programs. With this internship opportunity, students not only learn procedures inside a college classroom, but they see that procedure in action while working on assignments in the field.
To help assist their experience through the company, FAMU-FSU Engineering interns are partnered with on-the-job mentors and alumni that work there.
“My manager told us that it was important that we use this summer to try and figure out what we would want to do within the company,” Sumpter said. His boss requested that every week he interview five people in his field to make connections in the company. Sumpter would go through the company address book, look at people’s job titles and email them to set up his interviews.
“Through that experience I came out of my shell,” he said. “I wasn’t a very talkative person; I was predominantly quiet before.”
Riley’s mentors were very engaged. Quickly, she was introduced to alumni that were able to help her during her experience. Once connected with them, Riley was able to network with more people at Northrop Grumman. Her mentors paired her with other young, black women and through these connections, Riley was able to work and socialize with co-workers that share her similar experiences.
After returning to Tallahassee this fall semester Riley and Sumpter will use their experience at Northrop Grumman to further their studies. Riley wants to make prosthetics cheaper and more efficient.
Sumpter dreams of working for Northrop Grumman, working his way up the company ladder until he becomes an engineering fellow.
“I really enjoyed the internship, along with all the experience I gained,” he said. “The employees and the company itself were very inviting. People within the corporation really wanted us to get something out of this summer—to make sure we walk away with more than we came with, as far as knowledge and life skills. I’ve acquired a couple of mentors in the corporation.”
Students from FAMU and other HBCUs made impacts with their internships at Northrop Grumman and brought a positive light to their institutions. With openness to inclusion and increasing diversity in the country, Northrop Grumman is on track with the times. This makes Riley hopeful. “I think the balance is going to start to change.”
Northrop Grumman’s current efforts are spearheaded by Bryan Mahoney, Vice President of production operations along with peer executives from the business. Two of the executives, Tameika Hollis and LaKeisha Souter are FAMU alumnae of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Both are currently serving on advisory boards at the college. In addition, Northrop Grumman’s University Recruiting team has key member, Camara Johnson, a FAMU alumna of the School of Business and Industry.
“I think there’s still a lot of strides that need to be made for minorities in the STEM field,” Tameika Hollis stated. To that end, she’s helping to increase the number of black students at Northrop Grumman through a robust internship and engineering education investment program.
The company works with many engineering student projects and organizations including the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers and more. For the most impact, though, Northrop Grumman’s internships offer students the opportunity for hands-on experience and—perhaps most importantly—the mentorship of successful black STEM professionals.
Each summer, Northrop Grumman provides paid internships in several cities to students from around the country. Internship opportunities are available in engineering, project management, business and cyber.