Diversity Deficit in Tech: Are Registered Apprenticeships One Possible Solution?
Studies suggest that having greater diversity on corporate boards leads to better business outcomes.[1] Despite these studies, there are an underrepresentation of minorities in the tech industry, and executives in corporate positions are considering apprenticeships to bridge the gap. Apprenticeships are meant to teach people the skills they need for work with little to no debt from getting a college degree. One of the biggest misconceptions about apprenticeship programs is that they’re only for people interested in trade jobs like plumbing, culinary arts, and construction. Rather, apprenticeships can be for software engineers, marketing, data analysis, web developers, and many more tech roles.[2] Around 600,000 cybersecurity positions in the U.S. are unfilled, and this can be due to unreasonable job requirements. Top employers ask for years of experience, advanced degrees and professional certifications which are believed to deter potential candidates from applying for tech positions.[3]
One of the main reasons cited for the lack of diversity is the lack of diversity in recruitment and a lack of role models for underrepresented groups.[4] Women hold 25% of tech jobs while men hold 75% of the positions.[4] White Americans hold 62% of tech jobs, Latino Americans hold 8%, and Asian Americans hold 20%. Black Americans make up 7% of people who work in tech compared to their 13% makeup of the U.S. workforce, a high underrepresentation in the tech industry. Black Americans make up 8.8% of Google’s workforce, 3.9% of Facebook’s, and 4.9% of Microsoft’s. At Amazon, white men were 23 times more likely than Black women and 14 times more likely than Black men to hold an executive job.[5] Progress in diversity attempts for these companies has been slow. From 2014 to 2019, Google only increased the number of its Black and Latino employees by less than 1%. Facebook has had a bit more success over the past five years, increasing the number of Black women on their staff by 25% and Black men by 10%.[4]
The Chief Security Officer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) started an apprenticeship program that actively seeks out candidates who may be passed over due to lack of experience.[3] Over the course of six months, candidates in the program are paid while learning about the various functions in cybersecurity, are mentored by company staff, and can apply for jobs within the company. Companies like Google, IBM and HubSpot offer course completion certifications and apprenticeships that are available to anyone without the requirement of a college degree, and to people in current roles who wish to update their skills. After earning Google certificates, 75% of students report seeing a positive impact on their career within six months.[2] Because these programs cost much less than traditional college and have a flexible learning schedule, they are able to serve low-income people, women, and underrepresented communities.
State and federal governments have the opportunity to help bridge the diversity deficit in tech by supporting apprenticeship programs. Cities may not be able to afford to send people to four-year colleges to receive tech degrees, but because of the lower costs, they can probably afford grants to send disadvantaged students and underrepresented communities to apprenticeship camps to learn about tech.[2]
