Increase IT Diversity

My favorite columnist, Eugene Kane of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, made the following statement in a recent column:

It was clear the blogosphere in Milwaukee is similar to most institutions in town: predominantly white and filled with folks who only want to talk about race relations if they can blame all of the problems in the black community on Ald. Mike McGee.

I agree that there is a startling lack of diversity in the blogosphere, and in the technology industry in general. I have worked in the IT industry for more than 16 years, and in that time the only thing that hasn’t changed much is the predominance of white males.

For some reason white males get the gig as the uber-geek, especially in the highly technical positions.

Are white males the only ones who are willing to spend most of their waking hours dreaming of ways to create a fully-meshed network or deploy redundant SANs?

I certainly hope not.

As I have previously stated, I believe that there are plenty of unemployed or underemployed folks who have the aptitude and desire to join the IT workforce. All that they need is a chance.

In order to increase diversity in the IT industry, I propose that the following measures be pursued.

• Encourage training schools such as ITT Technical Institute and PC Pro Schools to create campuses within the city of Milwaukee, especially in areas that have high unemployment rates.
• Encourage local businesses to create on-the-job-training programs for entry level IT positions.
• Create a program to salvage retired computer equipment from local businesses and provide this free gear to people who cannot afford a computer.
• Provide free broadband connections to homes where someone is training for an IT career through a registered program.
• Hold IT related job fairs in Milwaukee’s inner-city and other areas that have high unemployment rates.
• Broadcast public service announcements on television and radio that promote IT related careers and provide training related information.

These are the same ideas that I proposed in my previous posting, but they are important enough to reiterate.

Instead of finding ways to outsource IT jobs overseas, we should be finding ways to give everyone in this country an opportunity to have a fun and exciting job that also pays pretty darn good.

Increasing the IT Work Force

A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story piqued my interest, not necessarily for the stated good intentions but for what wasn’t said.

The story explains how local businesses are visiting Milwaukee area public schools in an attempt to excite students about technology with the hopes that some of them will eventually pursue IT careers.

Without a doubt, this is a wonderful idea that will help build the area’s technology base in the future.

I know that the story was focused on the drive to encourage students to become interested in technology, but it made me wonder why very little has been done to encourage and enable adults to break down the barriers that prevent them from pursuing technology careers.

According to the Journal Sentinel, unemployment in the Milwaukee area rose to 5.5% in the last 12 months. That’s a large workforce that is available now, not in 5 or 10 years.

With such a large pool of unemployed citizens, why isn’t something being done to encourage and train these people to pursue IT careers?

Certainly some of them will have the aptitude and desire to learn the requisite skills. All that they need is the right training and a chance to learn.

I realize that there are a multitude of opinions about improving the unemployment rate in the city of Milwaukee. Here are some of my ideas for what our community can do to improve the job prospects for the unemployed and our local IT workforce:

• Encourage training schools such as ITT Technical Institute and PC Pro Schools to create campuses within the city of Milwaukee, especially in areas that have high unemployment rates.
• Encourage local businesses to create on-the-job-training programs for entry level IT positions.
• Create a program to salvage retired computer equipment from local businesses and provide this free gear to people who do not have a computer.
• Provide free broadband connections to homes where someone is training for an IT career through a registered program.
• Hold IT related job fairs in areas of the city that have high unemployment rates.
• Broadcast public service announcements on television and radio that promote IT related careers and provide training related information.

As a product of the Washington High School Computer Specialty Program in the 1980s, I realize how vital the job fairs and technology programs are to public school students.

Hopefully Milwaukee area leaders will see the importance of technology based training programs for adults that simply need some guidance, encouragement and a chance to pursue their dream.

Surely the community and local businesses will benefit.