Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 10:49:31 -0700 From: Norm Matloff To: Norm Matloff Subject: new ITAA study is same old same old To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter This is the same tactic the ITAA took in 1998 as an argument to increase the H-1B cap: "If only we had more women and minorities in IT, we wouldn't need H-1Bs." Total smokescreen. What it is failing to say is that large numbers of qualified people, regardless of race or gender, cannot get work in the field. And by the way, the ITAA appears to employ very, very few racial minorities. In their management/executive level staff list on their Web page, I see only one Latino surname, and one Asian. (I've enclosed the list at the end of this message below.) Norm http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5758177.html Tech is becoming ever more the province of testosterone, according to a new report. The percentage of women in the information technology work force declined from a high of 41 percent in 1996 to 32.4 percent in 2004, according to a report Wednesday by the Information Technology Association of America trade group. The shrinking representation of women is due largely to the fact that one out of every three women in the IT work force falls into administrative job categories that have experienced significant overall declines in recent years, the ITAA said. But even after excluding those administrative categories--such as "data entry keyer"--from analysis, the report finds that women's share of the IT work force has declined, from 32.4 percent to 24.9 percent. The report, based on data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Current Population Surveys, also found that some minority groups continue to be underrepresented in the IT field. The ITAA's study suggested programs to increase the participation of women and minorities in the computer field are not making much, if any, headway. "America is competing in the global economy with one hand tied behind her back," ITAA President Harris Miller said in a statement. "With competitors like China, India and Western Europe on our heels, we can ill afford to miss out on anyone with the right aptitude, skills and motivation to succeed in technical fields. Leaders in industry, education and government must redouble their efforts to ensure that all Americans, particularly women and minorities, recognize the opportunities available in science, technology, engineering and math." Wednesday's report follows other studies that show a decline in women's representation in the computer science arena and small gains by blacks and Hispanics in scientific, technological, engineering and math occupations. Women's presence in the sciences became a hot-button topic earlier this year after Harvard University President Lawrence Summers suggested that innate differences between the sexes could help explain why fewer women succeed in science and math careers. Despite discouraging statistics, some efforts to bring women back to computing appear to be paying off. That's seen as vital for many reasons, including fueling the nation's tech economy and preventing male bias in the way future technology is developed. The ITAA's study found that while Hispanics made up 12.9 percent of the U.S. work force, they were only 6.4 percent of the IT work force. The figure represents a slight increase from 5.3 percent in 1996. In 1996, blacks made up 9.1 percent of the IT work force, versus 8.3 percent in 2004, the report said. The percentage of blacks in the overall work force in 2004 is the same as it was in 1996, 10.7 percent. The percentage of whites in the IT work force also has dropped, from 82.5 percent in 1996 to 77.7 percent in 2004. This is a sharper decline than in the overall U.S. work force, where the percentage of whites dropped from 85.1 percent in 1996 to 82.8 percent in 2004, the report said. Asians, on the other hand, have increased their share of IT jobs over time. The percentage of Asians in the IT work force rose from 8.9 percent in 1996 to 12.1 percent in 2004, the report said. Asians made up 4 percent of the work force in 1996 and 4.3 percent in 2004. On the other hand, the share of Asians in the IT work force and the overall work force was slightly higher in 2003 than 2004. This may be due in part to "the recent political pressure to restrict visas on all immigrants, and particularly certain categories of visas for highly skilled workers, such as H-1B and L-1 visas," the report said. "Also, anecdotally, the (U.S.) IT industry is experiencing a 'brain drain' among certain foreign-born IT workers who have been working in the U.S. IT work force for years and are now returning to their native countries like India, Pakistan and China to lead major technology companies," the report said. According to the ITAA, perceived hurdles for women and minorities in tech include stereotypes that women and certain minorities are not skilled in math and sciences; a lack of mentoring and role models in leadership positions; and negative perceptions of IT work. A reduction in flexible work arrangements following the dot-com boom might also account for the reduction in the representation of women in the IT work force, the group said. The study also found that the U.S. IT work force is getting older. The average median age of the IT work force is approaching that of the overall work force, gaining 2.1 years between 2000 and 2004, to 39.7 years. The median age of the overall work force rose 1.1 years during the same time frame to 40.5 years, according to the report. [See also a related but different article on CNN at http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/06/23/it.work.force.ap/index.html] ITAA management/executive staff list, from http://www.itaa.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=ITAA_Main&WebKey=74a4f23c-22b4-4d74-9a75-ef29642d6744 Office of the President Harris Miller President (703) 284-5340 Jackie McWilliams Executive Assistant (703) 284-5338 Membership and Sales Jill Kerr VP Membership Development (703) 284-5359 Kimberly Moorhead Vice President Member Relations (502) 228-2285 Joel Broyhill Director, Membership Development (703) 284-5304 Eric Richards Manager, Membership Development (703) 284-5320 Media Bob Cohen Senior Vice President (703) 284-5301 Charlie Greenwald Director (703) 284-5305 Eerik Kreek Program Manager (703) 284-5316 Office of the General Counsel Joe Tasker Senior VP & General Counsel (703) 284-5331 Patti Coen Program Manager (703) 284-5358 Enterprise Solutions Division Olga Grkavac Executive Vice President (703) 284-5311 Jennifer Kerber Director (703) 284-5337 Michael Kerr Director (703) 284-5324 Renia Harper Executive Assistant (703) 284-5306 Angelica Hamilton Administrative Assistant (703) 284-5308 Internet Commerce & Communications Division Mark Uncapher Senior Vice President & Counsel (703) 284-5344 IT Services & Software Division Jeff Lande Senior Vice President (703) 284-5353 Madeleine Rial Director (703) 284-5356 Andrew Pernick Senior Program Manager (703) 284-5326 Melyanne Diby Program Manager (703) 284-5343 Education and Workforce Development Marjorie Bynum Vice President (703) 284-5318 Emerging Technologies Pete Smith Director (703) 284-5317 Information Security Greg Garcia Vice President Information Policy (703) 284-5357 International Allen Miller SVP Global Affairs, E.D. WITSA (703) 284-5329 Anders Halvorsen Senior Program Manager (703) 284-5333 Cindy Hwang Director Global Affairs (703) 284-5315 Taxation Stephanie Childs VP Govt Affairs and Tax Policy (703) 284-5352 Amy Zemp Program Manager Western Region Carol Henton Vice President (650) 357-7728 Administration Kelly Cutler Director of Administration (703) 284-5341 Martin Ennis Senior Director MIS (703) 284-5346 Shannon Zelsnack Conference Director (703) 284-5322 Penny Jensen Director of Finance (703) 284-5319 Jack Ramsay Accounting Manager (703) 284-5314