Is There a Lack of Diversity in Information Technology? part 5

EDUCATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The fact that IT workers require a high level of education was spotlighted by the Editor of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Monthly Labor Review. In "Most IT workers have college degrees" the same data used to generate the tables above was used to find the distribution of the educational level of IT workers:

This chart indicates that about two-thirds of the workers had a Bachelor's degree or higher. Of the remaining workers only 8% had no college at all, which means that 92% of all IT workers have at least some college on their resume. (data from the Monthly Labor Review Editor's Desk report based on the Current Population Study).

CONCLUSION

While certainly not conclusive proof, the evidence I have presented indicates some problems with diversity in the Information Technology industry. It is apparent that Information Technology companies could be doing a better job at diversity than they are currently doing.

There is a strong link between educational level and working in IT. Conventional Wisdom is that a lack of technical education is the #1 problem facing minorities when considering their representation levels in the IT industry. It is possible that there could be a relationship between the level of educational achievement in minority populations and their employment levels in the IT field but that hypothesis needs further study..

Whether the lack of qualified minority candidates is the primary factor affecting IT hiring is something that should definitely be investigated. A well-designed study would require controlling for education across various IT occupations to see if the workers' educational level is indeed the primary factor in minority under-representation in the IT field.

There could possibly be other factors that play a larger role than educational level, and a well-designed study would also take factors like geography into account. Is this problem solely one affecting Silicon Valley or is it also a nationwide problem? How are Houston and Texas doing when it comes to IT diversity?

The study should also have to look at various IT companies, both those with and without formal diversity programs. Are the diversity programs making a difference in minority hiring levels? Do they affect the levels of minorities in IT management?

Such a study is long overdue. Given the importance the Information Technology industry has to our economy, especially in the fast-paced Information Age, it is also very important that a study like this be done. The results would certainly be interesting.

WORKS CITED

Melymuka, Kathleen. Dabbling at Diversity. 11 Dec, 2000. Computerworld. 15 Nov 2002. <http://www.computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/story/0,10801,54919,00.html>.

Monthly Labor Review: The Editor's Desk. Most IT workers have college degrees. 23 Oct 2002. The Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor. 15 Nov 2002. <http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2002/oct/wk3/art03.htm> .

Solomon, Melissa. Create Diversity in Culture, Ideas. 6 May 2002. Computerworld. 15 Nov 2002. <http://www.computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/story/0,10801,70863,00.html>.

Timm, Paul R. and Peterson, Brent D. People at Work, Human Behavior in Organizations 5th edition. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing, 2000.

Workforce Statistics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor. 15 Nov 2002. <http://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm>.