Quantum computing aims for diversity, one qubit at a time

Feeling adrift and disconnected during the COVID-19 pandemic, Elisa Torres Durney decided to jump headlong into one of the hottest, and most challenging, disciplines around. She took a virtual course on quantum computing.

Then a secondary-school student in Chile, Torres Durney knew little about the field, but coming from a family of engineers and artists, she felt drawn to the opportunities that quantum computing offered to combine practicality and creativity. Over eight months, she learnt the basics from experts in academia and industry, in a course run by the non-profit organization, Qubit by Qubit. She also started writing code to simulate quantum circuits, and later ran her own experiments on a quantum computer.

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The experience was “transformative”, says Torres Durney, who will soon start an engineering undergraduate degree at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. But she realized that it was also a privilege, one that few students could access. So, in 2022, Torres Durney co-founded Girls in Quantum to further democratize quantum computing around the world. “So many people think that quantum is just for experts with a PhD, but I started at 16 years old, and I’m still here,” she says.

Girls in Quantum is one of a handful of initiatives aimed at increasing representation in quantum computing, which is one of the fastest-growing disciplines in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). By targeting every step of the career path, these groups aim to broaden tomorrow’s workforce, introducing the field to a younger, more diverse audience, imparting technological know-how and professional skills and ushering a new generation into positions of leadership. The hope is to avoid the diversity challenges that plague physics more broadly — the field has some of the lowest representation of women and people of other marginalized identities in STEM (T. Berry and S. Mordijck Commun. Phys. 7, 77; 2024).

“What I find really exciting about emerging technologies like quantum computing is we have the chance to get things right early on,” says Kiera Peltz, founder and chief executive of Qubit by Qubit, who is based in the Bay Area of California. Since its launch in 2020, the organization has introduced some 22,000 students worldwide to quantum computing, says Peltz, and more than half come from under-represented backgrounds. “Quantum computing will most certainly impact society, and I think that makes it even more critical to have diverse voices and experiences shaping these technologies.”

‘A glass ceiling for diversity’

Quantum computing draws on the foundational principles of quantum mechanics, a branch of physics that describes the behaviour of atomic and subatomic particles. Scientists have leveraged these properties to build computers powered by basic units of information called qubits that can occupy two states concurrently — a phenomenon known as superposition. These computers have different strengths compared with conventional devices that use a binary system of ones and zeros, such as the ability to evaluate a vast number of possibilities simultaneously, and researchers are optimistic about the opportunity this affords to tackle previously intractable problems in drug development, climate science, cybersecurity and other applications.

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Excitement over these tools — which remain, for the moment, rudimentary — is driving renewed interest in careers in physics. US jobs in the field are expected to grow by 5% by 2032, yet only one in 54 applicants for quantum roles are women, and 80% of quantum companies do not have a woman in a senior leadership role.

Fewer data exist on other marginalized identities, but a survey published this year of some 2,500 physics students and professionals in Canada, for example, revealed that only 1.5% of respondents identified as Black or Indigenous, 3.5% as gender diverse and 7% as having a disability (E. J. Hennessey et al. Preprint at arXiv https://doi.org/m9qk; 2024).

“There’s still very much a glass ceiling for diversity,” says Denise Ruffner, an independent consultant based in Pasadena, California, who advises quantum companies on diversity practices. “I’m glad that we started early to try to break through, but it’s something that’s still there and needs to be acknowledged.”

Equipping the next generation

The technology behind quantum computers can be daunting, and groups invested in engaging younger audiences must contend with a steep learning curve. Quantum mechanics doesn’t relate in clear ways to daily life, so educators must get creative when teaching foundational principles.

For Chris Cantwell, the founder of Quantum Realm Games, this has meant engaging with quantum concepts through play. Cantwell, who is based in Chino Hills, California, spent years developing a version of quantum chess to join the ranks of existing games such as quantum noughts-and-crosses and a quantum version of the popular world-building computer game, Minecraft.

In Cantwell’s quantum chess, pieces can occupy two positions on the board — signifying superposition — and others can become ‘entangled’, another quantum concept, to move together in predictable ways. He has begun playing it with his five-year-old son, and says the goal is not to teach quantum theory but to create a space in which people can experience quantum phenomena for themselves. “We have to start young, and we have to start diverse, to develop a generation with an intuitive understanding of things,” Cantwell says. “They’ll imagine uses for quantum computing that we can’t even conceive of right now.”

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Among more-conventional learning opportunities, Qubit by Qubit offers virtual courses to secondary-school students and undergraduates globally, with minimal academic prerequisites. Many courses are days long, but others span up to two semesters and include hands-on laboratory work in partnership with academic scientists and industry leaders. Students who complete these courses can then apply for summer internships that pair them with researchers pursuing quantum computing projects.

“The biggest point of attrition” in physics, according to Shohini Ghose, a physicist at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada, “is in the period right after high school, when people are picking a potential career”. Ghose, who is also a regional chair for women in science and engineering at Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the country’s federal funding agency, says that keeping students “invested through this critical juncture is a good step”.

Offering quantum-computing courses virtually or, in some cases, at a discount does make them more accessible, but cost and the fact that they are taught in English remain a barrier to broader participation. Qubit by Qubit makes as many of its programmes as possible free — including a one-week virtual ‘boot camp’ for students at historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions in the United States — and offers scholarships.

Girls in Quantum’s programmes are free, including a nine-week virtual course. The group is also one of the few actively working to translate resources into other languages; its network of global ambassadors has created guides in Spanish, Russian and Tamil. And last year, in partnership with IBM, Girls in Quantum organized a quantum hackathon in Latin America.

Quantum retention

Still other groups are tackling cultural and social barriers that could otherwise drive people out of the field.

“I think it’s better to have a workforce that’s 20% minorities, but they’re happy, versus one that’s 50% minorities, but they’re miserable,” says Tzula Propp, a quantum information theorist at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and co-founder, with Ruffner, of the non-profit body Diversity in Quantum (DiviQ). “Quantum is a pressure-cooker environment, and the people who get cooked out quickest are marginalized people with intersecting struggles.”

The Australian charity Quantum Women, founded in 2021, focuses on teaching ‘soft skills’ to make women more-effective communicators and competitors in the jobs market. “What we really want is to try to get women into positions of leadership,” says Irene Fernández de Fuentes, a co-founder of Quantum Women and an experimental quantum physicist at the research institute QuTech, based in Delft, the Netherlands. “There are many fields that have proven that a more diverse team can only bring good.”

Besides highlighting the work of its members, Quantum Women offers virtual and in-person workshops on public speaking, grant writing, building a CV and other topics in professional development. It’s also hosting ‘matchmaking’ sessions involving early-career professionals and industry partners. De Fuentes says that the first job offers for attendees have started to trickle in, “which feels great”.

NatureTech hub

DiviQ is currently building special-interest groups — including ones for women, queer scientists, people of colour and people with disabilities — to allow people to tap into networks of supportive peers. In June, the organization held its first Proud to be in Quantum summit for Pride month, and Propp is now piloting a mentorship programme for DiviQ members. Rather than one-on-one pairings, mentors will have two peers at similar career stages to meet with monthly, as well as a senior mentor “to call in a pinch”, Propp says.

And more mentors are needed. Ruffner says that when she gives talks, she often asks whether anyone is mentoring a woman or member of an under-represented group. “There usually aren’t a lot of hands up in the air,” she says.

“Don’t just talk about diversity or read about it,” Ruffner concludes. “Take action and find someone that you can mentor, and make a difference in someone’s life.”