Microsoft is working with the National Society of Black Engineers and hiring and promoting African American programmers and engineers. BETF-Blog Reader hope that the incoming BDPA leaders will work with BDPA Education & Technology Foundation to get Bill Gates and Microsoft to work at a much deeper level with BDPA in 2008.
"The United States is not turning out from any group as many of the great engineers as there will be jobs for," said Gates, who added that Blacks are particularly underrepresented in the tech industry because high school dropout rates in the Black community exceed 50%.
"That is a stunning number … the trends are very much working against somebody in that situation," said Gates, speaking at a conference hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers at Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., headquarters.
"There will be a huge number of computer science jobs created over the next 10 years, and the number of people majoring in those subjects is falling short of that,"said Gates.
According to a study by the National Science Foundation, fewer than 6,000 of the 52,500 computer science graduates in the U.S. in 2004 were Black. "The shallow pool of skills is due, in part, to the lack of minorities being drawn into technology," said NSBE executive director Carl Mack, in a statement.
Microsoft, named by the NSBE as the top employer for Black engineers, said it’s trying to change that by partnering with NSBE and hiring and promoting African American programmers and engineers. Do BDPA and NSBE work together on local or national level? If not, this might be a good reason to do so in the coming weeks and months.
The company also announced a software developer grant to the NSBE that gives its members a three-year membership in the Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance. The memberships give NSBE faculty and students access to a range of Microsoft products and technologies, including Windows Vista, SQL Server, and Visual Studio.
Gates said that Microsoft will continue its efforts to build a diverse workforce. "We want to get Black engineers, Hispanic engineers … everyone that we can," he said. Someone needs to let Mr. Gates know that BDPA is a viable source of Black IT professionals.
"The United States is not turning out from any group as many of the great engineers as there will be jobs for," said Gates, who added that Blacks are particularly underrepresented in the tech industry because high school dropout rates in the Black community exceed 50%.
"That is a stunning number … the trends are very much working against somebody in that situation," said Gates, speaking at a conference hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers at Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., headquarters.
"There will be a huge number of computer science jobs created over the next 10 years, and the number of people majoring in those subjects is falling short of that,"said Gates.
According to a study by the National Science Foundation, fewer than 6,000 of the 52,500 computer science graduates in the U.S. in 2004 were Black. "The shallow pool of skills is due, in part, to the lack of minorities being drawn into technology," said NSBE executive director Carl Mack, in a statement.
Microsoft, named by the NSBE as the top employer for Black engineers, said it’s trying to change that by partnering with NSBE and hiring and promoting African American programmers and engineers. Do BDPA and NSBE work together on local or national level? If not, this might be a good reason to do so in the coming weeks and months.
The company also announced a software developer grant to the NSBE that gives its members a three-year membership in the Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance. The memberships give NSBE faculty and students access to a range of Microsoft products and technologies, including Windows Vista, SQL Server, and Visual Studio.
Gates said that Microsoft will continue its efforts to build a diverse workforce. "We want to get Black engineers, Hispanic engineers … everyone that we can," he said. Someone needs to let Mr. Gates know that BDPA is a viable source of Black IT professionals.
7 comments:
i do applaud the efforts of mr. gates and i do believe that his concern is genuine.
i do think that less blacks are interested in computer-based engineering because it's not what's promoted in our communities. depending where you come from, you are not hearing black kids saying "i want to be a software engineer for gateway....". most of them aspire to be doctors, engineers, architects, lawyers, nurses, or entrepreneurs; these seem to be more tangible and typical outlets for minorities. i know where i am from, a small town in central, va, most of the black kids end up doing nothing with themselves. you'd be surprised how many from my high school graduating class that are still in that small town doing nothing! it is disgusting and disheartening as well! it is really a matter of who you are and what you desire to become. i became an architectural project manager and i am also an entrepreneur. it's all a matter of choice, but you gotta have something if you expect to get ahead in life.
from what i have seen, i believe that google employs more minority executives than gateway does. in any event, both of these tech-giant companies are to be applauded for the efforts to reach out to minorities for employment opportunities.
www.MarcusLangford.com
Subscribe to 'Mind of Marcus'
The Mind For Revolution Is Here
In conjunction w/ DrewryOnline.net
I'm Chris Williams. I have a long-time association with BDPA (I like to say I'm famous to some and infamous to others) and am currently a Principal Consultant for a large technology firm where I architect and lead deployments in Virtual Infrastructure (such as VMware) and related virtualization technology.
I hate to disagree, but I'm pretty sure Mr. Gates is not as genuine as people may want to think. Here's why:
I don't know if you heard, but recently 3 separate studies all came to the same conclusion that what Bill Gates was saying about shortages of educated, American IT workers is absolutely false. He was recently testifying before congress about the same thing, using it as a justification to get congress to increase the number of visas for foreign workers.
It turns out that, according to these three separate studies, American universities are actually graduating more than enough technology majors to fill the expected IT jobs need across the board. In short, these studies all concluded that there currently is no American IT worker shortage, nor is one expected over the next few years.
Note that I do not believe this diminishes the need for the African American community to rise to the challenge of getting into this market. If anything, it means we must work much, much harder because, if there are indeed no shortages, competition for these positions will be a lot tougher than expected.
I'll try to find the studies to you can see for yourself. If I recall correctly, one of them came from the Rand Corporation.
Marcus - It is up to us to create pathways for our young people in high school, junior high school and elementary school to see a future for themselves in the professional world either as entrepeneurs or members of the corporate community. You do what you do and you set an example. I hope that you go back to your high school and talk with the current students so that they can see successful role model that is about their age. Have you considered membership in BDPA?
Chris - Thank you for sharing your comments. I do hope you find the Rand studies. If you do, I would be happy to publish them (or link to them) here on BETF-Blog.
VILLAGER-i have not considered joining the BDPA; i prefer to stay separate from organizations. thought i applaud the works of BDPA and i don't have anything against BDPA, i just prefer not to belong to any type of organization.
on to your reply to my comment, when you say that it is up to us to create these pathways for young people, i am not sure what 'us' you are talking about. i am not sure if you mean 'us' as in society in general or if you mean 'us' as in the black community. i believe that you mean the latter and if that is the case, to a degree i agree with you, but overall, i do not agree with you. i do not believe that one's future should depend on a community because if you have not noticed, our communities are torn into; it's sorely divided to the point where children do not have any stable correction. if anything, it is the role of the parents to give their children those principles. that is the problem with 'our' community today; we depend on everyone else within the community except our mothers and fathers to help lead us in the right direction. growing up, i listened to my mom and dad only when it dealt with my future; they knew what was going to be best for me, and not the community. ultimately, i still made the decision to be what i became. my dad worked at a nuclear power station and my mother managed a restaurant before leaving the work force a few years ago; i came from typical 'blue collar' parents and ended up in a 'white collar' profession and chose a 'white collar' industry to be an entrepreneur in. my parents instilled in me the principles of working hard and higher achievement. when it is all said and done, i am glad that i did not rely on my 'community', because chances are, i would not be where i am today in life. the only thing i can think my community for is giving me the motivation to become more so that i could move the h_ll on to bigger and better things.
i make it back to my former high school a couple of times throughout the school year and i speak to the students of my former business, architecture, and phys. ed. teachers. in fact, i will be going back in the Spring to do a business seminar and to talk to the upcoming graduates about preparing for and landing a fulfilling career, the joys and trials of business ownership, and money management; that is my way of giving back. i have an 11-year old brother that is getting many of the same teachers that taught my oldest brother and i, so yes, i am very concerned about the kids coming up behind us. especially in that community, i want to be able to show them what can be achieved if you have a dream, stay close to your family, and stay focused on meeting your goals.
www.MarcusLangford.com
Subscribe to 'Mind of Marcus'
The Mind For Revolution Is Here
In conjunction w/ DrewryOnline.net
Marcus - I was referring to the Black community. I do not think that one's future should depend on our (Black) community. However, I do think that our (Black) community should be concerned about the future of our (Black) youth.
You and I are fortunate. We both come from two-parent homes in which both parents were positive influences in our life. We know that this is (unfortunately) an exception in our community. As such, organizations such as BDPA provide a channel for young people to see role models and find positive examples that they may not otherwise find.
In any case, I appreciate your visit to our blog. I enjoyed the vibe on your blog as well.
peace, Villager
VILLAGER-all in all, i feel where you are coming from and again i applaud the BDPA stands for and what the organization is trying to accomplish.
www.MarcusLangford.com
Subscribe to 'Mind of Marcus'
The Mind For Revolution Is Here
In conjunction w/ DrewryOnline.net
Post a Comment