Going Beyond Black History Month

Black History Month serves as a reminder of the contributions made by African-Americans to society and industry. In tech, African-Americans make up around 7.4% of the workforce with less than 1% in managerial or executive roles. Barriers to increasing these numbers include the "pipeline" problem, an inhospitable culture in relevant industries, reluctance to train new employees, and the fast-changing nature of the industry. To create more inclusion in tech, recruiters can build diverse pipelines by partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), attending events like Afrotech, or collaborating with organizations such as Black Girls Code, /dev/color, and Project Include. These initiatives focus on teaching coding skills to young African-American girls, empowering black software engineers, and promoting data-driven advocacy for diversity and inclusion in tech.