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PROGRAM SUCCESS – JANUARY 2009
BLACKS
BREAK THROUGH IN
COMPUTER SCIENCE
‘Underrepresented Minority’Label Fades, But Workplace Challenges Remain
Alexandria, VA - After years of being labeled an “underrepresented
minority” in computer science, blacks in the U.S. are on the brink of
leaving that category, with bachelor’s degrees in hand. According to the
federal government’s National Center for Education Statistics, black
students received 12.4 percent of the baccalaureates in computer and
information sciences awarded by U.S. colleges and universities in
2005-06. That’s nearly equal to the percentage of blacks in the U.S.
population (12.8 percent).
For advocates of minority participation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), reaching this milestone is cause for
celebration, especially since diversity in engineering remains stagnant.
Black students received only 5 percent of the nation’s bachelor’s
degrees in engineering awarded in 2005-06. But is the news in comp
sci all good?
Not by a long shot. Students of all races and ethnicities have been shying away from computer science in large numbers in recent years, and
some experts say that’s for good reason.
The November/December 2008 “Careers Issue” of NSBE Magazine
presents an in-depth look at these important happenings, in a feature
article titled, “Blacks in Computer Science: The Secrets of Their Success.” Download the PDF here:
http://national.nsbe.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=YsNdVlXt/08=&ta
bid=98&mid=447
ABOUT NSBE
Founded in 1975, the 31,118-member National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) (www.nsbe.org) is one of the largest student-governed
organizations based in the U.S. NSBE has more than 300 chapters on
college and university campuses, hundreds of NSBE Jr. chapters and
more than 80 Alumni Extension chapters and interest groups in the
U.S., Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean. The organization’s mission is to “increase the number of culturally responsible black
engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.”