Dive Brief:
- Millennials, women and minorities comprise more than 30% of the American workforce in their respective groupings. But in higher education IT, the numbers drop to 15% or less.
- These numbers contrast with the number of women and minorities hired to serve in campus CIO roles, which increased by 4.5% collectively between 2010 and 2015.
- According to Educause, solving the diversity disparity will require more intensive exposure of higher ed IT career opportunities to students.
Dive Insight:
Campuses must become active in showcasing a variety of IT functions. From cybersecurity to big data and predictive analytics, there are attractive career options even in a setting that doesn't receive the same pop cultural attention as defense contractors, corporate firms and government employment.
A possible way forward is for universities to align with nonprofit organizations, much in the way Airbnb has partnered with groups in New York and California to build pipelines for its tech division. Those partnerships were born out of charges of discrimination against the company, but colleges and universities can lead with similar initiative to demonstrate a commitment to serving a range of communities.