Making IT Look Good to Minorities

National Journal, a Nextgov sister publication, will be hosting a discussion on "The American Workforce is Changing: Can the Business and Education Sectors Keep Up?" The panel will discuss "the changing demographics of the new generation that is entering today's workforce." An e-mail promoting the discussion, which will take place June 17 at the Newseum, says minorities now "comprise two-fifths of this new wave of workers."

Government should take notice of that ratio as well. Faced with an enormous task of replacing retiring baby boomer technology workers with young talent coming out of college, a large portion obviously will have to be minority. But the fact is that minorities shun IT jobs. From the Net Generation report recently released by the federal CIO Council, 70 percent of federal IT workers are white. The other ethnic groups break down as:

14 percent African American

9 percent Asian

5 percent Hispanic/Latino

1 percent Native American/Alaskan

0.4 percent multiracial

0.3 percent Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander