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Panel Urges Bigger Pool for Tech Jobs
By Terence Chea
A nationwide shortage of qualified high-tech workers will jeopardize the country's economic future unless the pool of scientists and engineers is expanded to include more women, minorities and people with disabilities, a federal commission warned yesterday. The U.S. technology industry is expected to create 5.3 million jobs between 1998 and 2008, according to a report issued by the Commission for the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, which was established by Congress in October 1998. Yet recent studies show that about 400,000 information technology jobs are currently vacant and that one-third of Silicon Valley's demand for high-tech workers went unfilled last year, at an estimated annual cost of $4 billion. The commission said the shortage will persist unless greater numbers of minorities, women and people with disabilities--groups vastly underrepresented in science and engineering professions--are recruited and trained by schools, corporations and government programs. "Our nation's economic prosperity is due in large part to the significant growth in science, engineering and technology industries," said Elaine Mendoza, chairwoman of the commission and president and chief executive of San Antonio-based Conceptual MindWorks Inc. "As these industries--which already face worker shortages--continue to expand, we will lose our global competitive edge if we do not expand the talent pool accordingly." The commission's report comes at a time when Congress is debating legislation to increase the cap on H-1B visas--special work permits for highly skilled immigrant workers--from 115,000 to 200,000 per year. Last year, Congress raised the ceiling from 65,000 to 115,000. The insatiable demand for foreign technology workers underscores growing concerns that the domestic work force cannot supply the skills needed by U.S. high-tech companies. But the commission believes the visa program is only a stopgap solution to the shortage and fails to address the reasons for the lack of qualified technology workers in the United States. The report detailed the extent to which women, minorities and people with disabilities are underrepresented in these fields. For example, women make up 9 percent of engineers and 27 percent of computer scientists and programmers. Minorities, who represent nearly one-third of the U.S. work force, make up only 3 percent of technology professionals. And people with disabilities, nearly 14 percent of the work force, constitute less than 6 percent of high-tech workers. "Our nation must ensure that we are utilizing the talent of our entire population, not just a narrow slice of it," said Rep. Constance A. Morella (R-Md.), chairman of the House Science Committee's subcommittee on technology and author of the legislation that established the commission. "It is in our nation's best self-interest to take strong steps to nurture the talents of women, minorities and persons with disabilities to fill the demand for workers in the science and technology fields." In its report, the commission issued a broad range of recommendations that include strengthening early education in math and science, expanding access to higher education for underrepresented groups and transforming the public image of scientists and engineers among young people. To improve educational opportunities for minority students at the pre-college level, the commission called for all states to adopt high-quality standards for curriculums, teachers and school infrastructure. It also recommended programs that identify talented students from disadvantaged communities for intensive preparation in science and engineering careers. At the college level, the commission called on the government to substantially increase the number of Pell Grants--need-based college scholarships--that target underrepresented students. It also recommended strategies to help community college students transfer to four-year institutions. The commission also demanded increased accountability. It asked states to require school districts to collect extensive performance data that track students by race, ethnicity, gender and disability status. It calls for similar reporting mechanisms for employers to monitor career development for all sectors of the population. The commission also proposes an oversight body to oversee the implementation and progress of the recommendations. "Our goal was to produce a set of action-oriented policy statements that would push some buttons that haven't been pushed before," said commission member George Campbell Jr., president of New York's Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. "I hope we've done that." © 2000 The Washington Post Company |