San Francisco Examiner
Saturday, Apr 03, 1999


High-tech's touchy race issue
Silicon Valley, other sectors of computer industry underrepresented by
blacks, Latinos


By Bobby McGill
SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER


Silicon Valley is undergoing racial scrutiny of late and the high-flying
computer industry is not taking it well. It all started during a recent
visit to the Bay Area by Rev. Jesse Jackson who lambasted the high-tech
industry for not doing enough to attract minority workers — blacks and
Latinos being particularly underrepresented.


"I listen to the top Silicon Valley types and I sense a kind of oozing
ideology that must be addressed," Jackson said during his visit last
month. "Those who are not qualified are qualifiable, but, when it comes
to high tech, it's as if they have to have some special kind of gene."


Jackson's comments sparked an angry rebuttal from industry leaders, led
by T.J. Rodgers, the often outspoken CEO of San Jose-based Cypress
Semiconductor.


"It's insulting that Jesse Jackson flies into the Silicon Valley, which
I revere as one of the best places on Earth and one of the most
unprejudiced places on Earth, and tells us we're prejudiced," Rodgers
said.


He went on to say he likened Jackson to "a sea gull that flies around
leaving droppings."


Hyperbole aside, Jackson's allegations are further damning due to the
high-tech industry's intense lobbying of the federal government last
year for an easing of immigration laws allowing them to hire skilled
workers from other countries. Prominent social advocates such as Jackson
contend that the problem is not a lack of workers but rather a lack of
opportunity.


Linda Haithcox, the NAACP's national manager of economic development,
also points the finger at industry bias.


"We recognize that it is a problem," she said from her office in
Baltimore. "We hold these companies accountable for their lack of
interest and commitment to our communities."


On the other side of the coin, industry leaders, such as Rodgers, assert
that high-tech firms are eager to hire all qualified candidates,
regardless of their race.


One thing is certain: There is a shortage of blacks and Latinos working
in the high-tech industry.


According to a 1998 report by the National Science Foundation, blacks
and Latinos make up roughly 3 percent of all scientists and engineers in
the United States.


A study last year by the Office of Technology Policy at the U.S.
Department of Commerce revealed that African Americans made up just 7
percent of computer systems analysts and just 5 percent of computer
programmers. The same study showed that some 60 percent of all U.S. jobs
by 2000 will require at least some basic technology skills.


"There's a tremendous need for more inclusion in the technology
industry," said B. Keith Fulton, director of technology programs and
policy at the National Urban League. "Companies looking to the long term
understand that to get that talent pool developed, they need to move
into the communities and start training programs."


Debate over the reasons for such disparity has left ordinary observers
scratching their heads.


Michael Welch, a software engineer at Enlightened Software in San Mateo,
is a member of the National Society for Black Engineers, a group that is
trying to remedy the dearth of African Americans in that field.


"When you get down to the root of it there is no question there is a
lack of black students studying engineering, and coming up with the
skills," Welch said.


Education discrepancies


Black and Latino students have historically performed poorly in
comparison to their white counterparts, according to U.S. Census Bureau
figures. As recently as 1985 there was significant disparity, even at
the high school level. Graduation rates for blacks that year lagged
behind whites by a 15 percent margin, Latinos by 20 percent. As of 1998
the gap between blacks and whites had nearly closed. However, blacks and
Latinos still lag far behind when it comes to earning bachelor's degrees
— a bare minimum for nearly all high-tech jobs.


According to recent data from the Census Bureau, 13.2 percent of blacks
and 10.3 percent of Latinos earned bachelor's degrees in 1997. By
comparison 23.4 percent of whites earned B.A.s the same year. The number
of B.A.s conferred to blacks and Latinos has steadily risen since 1985,
growing 4.9 and 2.6 percent, respectively.


The fact that more blacks and Latinos are attending college is often
cited as proof of an increased availability of skilled workers for
high-tech jobs. Such rationale fails to take into account the chosen
fields of study, however.


According to Department of Education statistics for the 1996 school
year, only 2.7 percent of the bachelor's degrees earned by blacks were
in computer information sciences, and only 3.3 percent in engineering.


Even with a degree in engineering or computer science, blacks and
Latinos still face difficulties getting a job. This is due in part to
the sheer number of whites with degrees competing for jobs in the same
market. Whites in the 1996 school year received 69 percent of all
engineering B.A.s in the U.S. while Asian students earned 10 percent.
This compares with 4.8 and 4.5 percent for blacks and Latinos
respectively,in the same field.


Andrea Kwakye, a manager at Hewlett-Packard in Cupertino, says she is
troubled by the lack of minority students majoring in fields most
relevant to today's high-tech jobs. She believes it is partly based on a
fear of math and sciences among some blacks. Overcoming this problem is
essential to high-tech success, says Kwakye.


"You cannot succeed in the engineering field without a strong math
background. If you want to go into engineering or any related science
field you better have a strong math background," she said.


Math, science skills lacking


The finger of blame for poor math and science skills is being pointed at
the secondary school system, specifically in the inner cities where
students are predominantly black and Latino. Dr. Robert C. Smith, author
of the book "Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era; Now You See it, Now
you Don't," questioned the quality of education in mostly black and
Latino schools.


Smith used his niece, who performed well in the Los Angeles inner-city
school system, to illustrate his point. "The education she received
simply was not comparable to the kind of education other students had
received," Smith said. "So her 'A' in physics or algebra actually didn't
mean as much in terms of what she actually knew."


Regardless of education, some, including NAACP's Haithcox, still blame
the problem on racist hiring practices.


"I don't want to sound patronizing to the industry, it is just that that
is the way business has been done for so long," she said. "They have not
realized that it was a problem. It is a problem in all areas of business
in corporate America."


Asked whether he agrees with the Rev. Jackson's implication that some
companies discriminate against minorities, Fulton of the National Urban
League said: "I don't know if it's about racism," he said. "The bottom
line with a lot of these firms is competency. You can't get away with
hiring the unqualified white guy over the qualified black guy because
you like white people better — too much is at stake now."


Smith speculates the problem is a result of both racism and low skills.


"A general perception exists, based on a degree of reality, that blacks
and Latinos have less skills than Anglos and whites," Smith said. "So
any individual black or Latin has to first demonstrate to the employer
that the perception is not the case, which would not be the case for a
typical Anglo because that assumption does not exist."


As the debate goes on, Welch feels that upcoming students are the ones
getting the short end of the stick.


"Schools aren't encouraging them as far as mathematics and science,"
Welch said. "So when these students get to be older they have no
confidence in their ability to do math and science and at that point
they are not looking to study those kinds of fields, and then presto,
there is your shortage."