More Women, Minorities Needed to Curb Tech Worker Shortage
A report released last month by the Commission for the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Department warns that the shortage of information technology workers will persist until more minorities, women and people with disabilities are identified and trained by schools, businesses and government programs. Recent studies show that about 400,000 information technology jobs are unfilled and a third of Silicon Valley's need for high-tech workers was unmet in 1999.
The commission, which was established by Congress in 1998, reported that while minorities constitute one-third of the U.S. work force, they make up just 3 percent of information technology professionals. The commission recommended the strengthening of early education in math and science, and increasing the number of need-based college scholarships.
"Our nation must ensure that we are utilizing the talent of our entire population, not just a narrow slice of it," Rep. Constance A. Morella, R-Md., told The Washington Post. Morella chairs the House Science Committee's subcommittee on technology and author of the legislation that established the commission.
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