Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Engineering a diverse talent pool
Aerospace | Technology | Talent
October 14, 2022 – Aerospace and defense (A&D) companies have an opportunity to expand the tech talent pool. For example, diverse profiles are underrepresented at all levels of North American engineering-, industrial-, and manufacturing-heavy organizations, including those in the A&D sector. At the entry level, women are a third more underrepresented than they are in other sectors. Women of color make up just 10 percent of entry-level employees.
To read the article, see “Debugging the software talent gap in aerospace and defense,” July 18, 2022.
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Visual form
Representation pipeline chart.
Layout / body structure
The chart is laid out as a representation comparison across organizational levels, so the reader follows the talent pipeline from entry level upward and watches the diversity profile narrow. The chart reads level by level through the engineering, industrial, and manufacturing hierarchy.
What is being compared
It compares female representation and the representation of women of color in engineering-, industrial-, and manufacturing-heavy organizations, including aerospace and defense, against broader sector benchmarks.
Measurement system
The page uses representation shares, so the viewer tracks the percentage of women at different levels rather than a financial output measure.
Visible structure inside the graphic
The internal pieces are the career-level categories and the corresponding representation markers for women and women of color. The narrowing of the pipeline is the defining visual structure because it makes underrepresentation visible at each stage.
Main takeaway from the visual
The page shows that the diversity problem is not limited to senior roles; it begins early and compounds as careers advance. The A&D talent pool is visibly thinner than broader benchmarks, especially for women of color.
Key standout values or extremes
The strongest explicit figure is that women of color account for only 10 percent of the entry-level talent pool in the relevant organizations. The page also notes that women are a third more underrepresented at entry level here than in other sectors.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.