National Hispanic Heritage Month Comes at a Time of Alarming Trends

As National Hispanic Heritage Month began over the weekend and runs through October 15, CompTIA Advancing Diversity in Technology Executive Council member and associate professor in the computer science department at Northeastern Illinois University Graciela Perera offers her thoughts on where the Hispanic American community is today.

In the last several years, alarming trends have developed in graduate and undergraduate enrollment and in graduation rates regarding the participation of minority groups in technology. For example, according to National Science Foundation (NSF) indicators, underrepresented minorities such as Hispanics do not enroll in or complete college at the same rate as whites.

The Hispanic population is considered the nation’s largest minority group and will make up 29 percent of the U.S. population in 2050 compared with 14 percent in 2005. It has been estimated that Hispanics will triple in size and will account for most of the nation’s population growth from 2005 through 2050.

These statistics represent a serious threat to the U.S. and technology innovation. If we want to successfully build the capacity of Hispanics and maintain competitiveness and leadership in technology, it is of great importance that we appreciate what the statistics indicate and provide opportunities to the Hispanic population now.

Developing the capacity of Hispanics and minorities in technology is not an easy endeavor. The main issues that are contributing to this problem are the increase of tuition rates, financial responsibilities at home, lack of role models such as Hispanic and minority professors in tenure-track positions and poor education.

We need to look at initiatives that systematically increase the capacity of Hispanics in the technology field. Some can be achieved by creating a competitive bridge of role models while other initiatives provide an educational path for Hispanics to succeed in higher education and in their future careers.