NSBE - November/December 2008 - (Page 46)

ThE SEcRETS of ThEiR SuccESS By Theresa Sullivan Barger and Eric Addison BlaCkS In CompUter SCIenCe o The number for blacks also fell, from 6,945 to 5,875 over the n its face, the news is great: After years of being period. labeled an “underrepresented minority” in computer The bottom line under the big picture: As comp sci seems to science, blacks in the U.S. are on the brink of leavbe losing its attractiveness for U.S. students in general, the field ing that category, with bachelor’s degrees in hand. is becoming more black. And the causes of these two trends are Since 1996–97, according to the federal government’s open to debate. National Center for Education Statistics, the number of black students receiving baccalaureates in the field has more than doubled, from 2,463 to 5,875. Just as significant, the percentSLOwING GROwTh age of blacks among computer science bachelor’s degree-holders “Blacks have been underrepresented in most (science, technolhas been rising since 1998, and in 2006, blacks made up 12.4 ogy, engineering and math) fields, so the fact that they’re up in percent of the candidates receiving those degrees, a proporcomputer science is good,” says demographer B. Lindsay Lowell, tion almost equal to that of blacks in the U.S. population (12.8 Ph.D., director of policy studies for the Institute for the Study of percent). International Migration at Georgetown University. To use the national lexicon of diversity, blacks have nearly But in a May 2008 article titled “Making the Grade,” achieved “parity” in computer science at the bachelor’s degree published in the science journal Nature, Dr. Lowell and Hal level, a remarkable achievement, especially when one considers Salzman, Ph.D., senior faculty Fellow at Rutgers University’s the continuing lack of diversity in engineering, where blacks Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, said students have are getting significantly fewer bachelor’s degrees — 3,355 in been steering away from computer science for good reason. 2006 — and make up a significantly smaller percentage of the “When the IT industry was growing, the number of gradugraduates: only 5 percent ates in computer science of the bachelor’s degree kept pace, doubling U.S. Computer and Information Sciences Bachelor’s Degrees Conferred recipients that year. over six years,” they But beneath the skin of wrote. “Following the Total # of Degrees Degrees to Blacks % to Blacks blacks’ success in comp collapse of the IT industry 2005–2006 47,480 5,875 12.37% sci, there are signs of deep bubble, the number of 2004–2005 54,111 6,438 11.90% trouble. The number of graduates fell by 17 2003–2004 59,488 6,945 11.67% students receiving degrees percent between 2003 2002–2003 57,439 6,540 11.39% in the field, including all and 2005. Employment 2001–2002 47,299 5,030 10.63% races and ethnicities, has in this field is just now 2000–2001 41,954 4,384 10.45% shrunk by more than reaching the levels of the 3,527 9.74% 1999–2000 36,195 12,000 over the past two boom years but, with little 1998–1999 29,345 2,827 9.63% years for which the federal prospect of rapid growth, 1997–1998 26,852 2,701 10.06% government has figures: students seem to be wise in 1996–1997 24,768 2,463 9.94% from 59,488 in 2003–04 choosing other fields.” to 47,480 in 2005–06. 46 • november/december 2008 • Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics CoNtiNuED oN pagE 48 www.nsbe.org http://www.nsbe.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NSBE - November/December 2008

NSBE - November/December 2008
Contents
How We Got Over
Obama Wins!
LaTanjia Robinson of Aerojet
Membership News: You Did It Again!
Cash In Your GPA!
NSBE-AE Signs On
Growing from One Love
New York Renaissance
Toronto Welcomes NSBE Convention Planners
Regional Officer Reconnects in Ghana
Texas A&M - College Station, NSBE's Distinguished Chpater of the Year
Lifetime Members: 118 and Counting!
NSBE Midshipmen
Vision and Change
The AE Niche
Thinking Green
Blacks in Computer Science: The Secrets of Their Success
NSBE Calendar
AE Programs Address Critical Goals
AE Members on the Move
Making Games for the Masses
Advertisers Index

NSBE - November/December 2008