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Tech Jobs: Minorities Have Degrees, but Don't Get Hired


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Tech companies are under growing pressure to diversify their workforces, which are predominantly white, Asian, and male.

USA Today has found that top universities graduate minority science and engineering students at twice the rate that leading technology companies hire them.

Credit: Getty Images/Creatas RF

Top universities graduate minority computer science and engineering students at twice the rate that leading technology companies hire them, according to USA Today.

On average, black and Hispanic technology employees at seven leading Silicon Valley tech firms make up just 2 and 3 percent of the total workforce, respectively, while about twice as many received bachelor's degrees in computer science or engineering from prestigious universities last year, according to data from the Computing Research Association (CRA). USA Today analyzed the data from CRA's annual Taulbee Survey, which includes 179 U.S. and Canadian universities that offer doctorates in computer science and engineering.

However, an even larger discrepancy exists between technology companies and graduates of all U.S. colleges and universities, as a recent National Center for Education Statistics survey found blacks and Hispanics each made up about 9 percent of all 2012 computer science graduates, but blacks and Hispanics make up 12 and 16 percent of the national workforce, respectively.

Technology companies say they hire all of the qualified black and Hispanic technology workers they can find. The key to getting more women and minorities into the technology industry has to start with improving education, says Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg.

From USA Today
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