Blacks underrepresented in IT field
By Fred Green Jr.
For the NNPA
There is trouble brewing in IT-Land. At a time when technology jobs are projected to double over the next five years, fewer people of color are graduating with degrees that will prepare them for jobs in information technology. This development has serious implications for industry, higher education and groups seeking their share of the American pie.
Of course, the problem of attracting IT workers is not limited to people of color. In fact, the federal Office of Technology Policy issued a report titled, “America’s New Deficit: The Shortage of Information Technology Workers.” But there are some profound benefits to be derived from expanding the presence of underrepresented groups, such as African-Americans, Hispanics and women.
“In 1998, 4 percent of the B.S. degrees in computer science went to African Americans,” Herman D. Hughes, a professor at Michigan State University, wrote in Black Collegian magazine.
“In graduate degrees, these percentages are lower. Studies have shown that if these underrepresented groups were fully participating in the information technology (IT) workforce, there would be no IT shortage.”
So, solving the problem of under-representation will also solve the problem of too few workers in the field, generally estimated to be 1 million employees.
But if IT companies are going to be successful in bringing in more people of color, they can’t keep looking in the same places. Otherwise, they’ll end up with the same results.
Although historically black universities and colleges (HBCUs) represent less than 3 percent of all universities in the U.S., they graduate 31 percent of those getting industry-related degrees.
Microsoft realizes that priming the pump must begin even before students reach college. It has formed a partnership with the National Urban League to host an annual Youth IT Challenge (YITC). The company provides mentoring and broader exposure to technology over a 6-month preparation period. Michael Robinson, general manager for the New York office of Microsoft Corporation, served as one of the mentors.
“When the winning team was announced, I literally had tears in my eyes,” said Darwin Davis, president and CEO of the New York Urban League.
“I knew that a scant six months ago these youngsters did not know each other, showed little evidence of teamwork, team building, technical skills, or business planning. To see how far they have come makes Microsoft, their volunteers, the National Urban League and the New York Urban League proud.”
Aware of the important role that black colleges play, another company, Cingular Wireless, conducted its first “Cingular Wireless HBCU Campus Challenge” this fall; the company plans to expand the number of colleges that compete in the program. Working with three historically black colleges – Southern University in Baton Rouge, La; North Carolina Central University in Durham and, Florida A&M University in Tallahassee – business students were charged with developing and implementing a marketing plan to successfully reach their campus peers and faculty members.
A panel of senior-level executives will meet in Atlanta later this month to judge the competition. Students are eligible to win scholarships, grants and company products. A portion of any revenue generated through the sale of ring tones goes back to the universities.
“The HBCU Campus Challenge is an opportunity for students to balance theory and reality, the competition challenges students to navigate the complexities of implementing their marketing proposal strategies,” says Bob Reed, vice president for diversity and inclusion at Cingular Wireless.
“They are competing academically against their peers at schools where they traditionally have had only athletic rivalries. On this playing field, however, they will be challenged to demonstrate a new form of teamwork, as well as individual creativity.”
It is clear that the future of information technology is inextricably tied to how well underrepresented students are prepared at an early age, nurtured through college and recruited upon graduation. In the two examples above, we have seen creative ways of engaging students and even business schools, to the ultimate benefit of students, schools and companies. The path to success begins long before a potential employee completes a job application.
