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In the NCWIT study, it denoted that the percentage of African American/Black women in computing professions has increased to 12.9 percent in 2017. This is wonderful in many ways, as the numbers were considerably lower for many years, but there has been a negative migration of women in general occurring at some top tech companies. That means that more women are leaving tech companies and careers than staying in them. The Figure 1.1 details the fluctuations of women in the computing professions from 2003–2017.

Figure 1.1: Percentage of computing occupations held by women 2003–2017

Source: NCWIT, Computing Workforce, 2019

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that women only held only 26 percent of computing roles in 2013, a 9 percent decrease from 1990. The breakdown by race is also dismal, as shown in Table 1.1.

In a study of the career and economic progress of minorities in top technology companies by the Ascend Foundation, the number of Black women in technical professions declined by 13 percent over a 12-year period.

Many professional programs exist that aim to educate, nurture, and ultimately keep young women of color in technical careers. Who is it that developed these programs? Colleges and universities? Tech companies and the people within the industry? The answer is all these entities have invested a great deal of time, money, and manual effort to bring more diverse, female talent into technical ranks. Some programs focus on young women as early as elementary school, while others provide educational opportunities, career guidance, and mentorship in college or in the early stages of their professional careers.

Table 1.1: Diversity Challenge by Cohort

Source: The Ascend Foundation

TALENT CHALLENGES	ATTRACT AND RETAIN TALENT
COHORT	CHANGE PROFESSIONAL WORKFORCE FROM 2007 TO 2015	PERCENTAGE OF PROFESSIONALS IN 2015
White men	31% growth	32%
White women	10% growth	11%
Black men	15% growth	1.2%
Black women	13% decline	0.7%
Hispanic men	32% growth	3.1%
Hispanic women	11% growth	1.7%
Asian men	46% growth	32%
Asian women	34% growth	15%