Did you know Latinos are more tech savvy yet they make up only 8% of the total tech workforce?
Even more surprising is that the Latino population has grown immensely in number, yet when it comes to the most lucrative jobs, they find themselves falling behind.
What is stopping them, why is it so important for them to grow in tech, and how can they do it?
This write-up will address all these questions and more.
Why Are Latinos Underrepresented in Tech?
The challenges faced by the Hispanic population in the US are not just limited to education and entry-level jobs but also extend to the business level. Hispanic employees currently working in tech are also battling with a lot of challenges daily.
· Technical Limitations
Tech access is becoming a major factor affecting the Hispanic community right now. Although Hispanics use social media platforms and smartphones more than other minorities in the USA, however, most of their online activities are limited to smartphones.
For tech education, however, access to a good computer and a stable internet connection is very important. Although residential internet services in the USA are much better than in other countries, the Hispanic community still has to overcome the financial barrier. Optimum, which is one of the largest internet service providers in the US, is filling this gap by offering a dedicated Optimum Servicio al Cliente en español for their Hispanic customers.
· Limited Access to Education
Most Latino families living in the US are immigrants with very low financial stability. These families encourage their kids to start a business instead of helping them get the best education. Even the families that realize the importance of education fail to financially support the education of their kids.
Moreover, they have limited accessibility to tech education, gadgets, and support. This limited access to finances restricts the growth opportunities for Latino kids trying to enter tech.
· Lack of Representation
Latinos are underrepresented in tech, which means that students and kids have fewer role models to look up to. Moreover, there are very few Hispanic tech mentors who can help kids learn more, compete better, and land good jobs.
Most students aim for industries that are already dominated by Hispanics while most families encourage their kids to pursue family business. Both these factors consequently affect the growth of Hispanics in tech, taking them out of the tech race.
· Discrimination and Bias
The Caucasian and Asian community hugely dominates tech. These communities have their own culture, and social values and try to support the individual from their community. As a result, Hispanics at workplaces feel marginalized which further suppresses their urge to join the tech community.
· Language Barriers
Language plays a very important role in the tech business. Most of the tasks are communicated in simple language and the developer has to convert it into code. However, Hispanics find themselves struggling with communication because of the language barrier. While Latinos are doing very well locally, they fail to find their ground on an international level.
With so many challenges, one might wonder why there is a dire need for Hispanic tech experts.
Let’s answer this question.
Why the Tech Industry Needs More Latinos
Tech is one of the most sought-after and highly lucrative industries. While most people try to highlight the overall payout, factor and consider it to be a very important reason Hispanics should benefit from it. Others believe that more than considering the payout, the tech industry needs Hispanics to solve issues in their community.
Most tech engineers currently working in the field are from Asian communities. These individuals bring their own experiences, concerns, and opinions to the tech industry. Consequently, we see these individuals solving issues related to their communities, countries, and regions.
On the contrary, when we try to weigh the overall population growth in the Hispanic community and try to find its representation in tech, the numbers are shocking. While Latinos make up nearly 20% of the US population, they only make up 6% of the tech workforce. Moreover, among these 6%s Latinas only make 1% of the tech workforce.
This means there is no one trying to highlight and resolve issues related to Latinas. As other communities grow, more, this gap will become even bigger pushing Hispanics to become a marginalized community in tech.
Now, it is more important than ever to not just encourage Hispanics to join the tech community but also boost their interest in tech education.
How can we do it?
Here are some simple steps that can pave the way for Hispanics in
How to Encourage More Latinos to Join Tech?
· Focus on Creating a Diverse Workplace.
Diversity has become one of the most important topics in the workplace. Even the most tech-savvy and experienced people at work feel more validated when they are around people in their own community. Moreover, recruiting a diverse team will bring a new perspective helping to improve the solution.
· Recruit for Soft Tech Skills.
Creating space in tech for Hispanics is more important than aggressively hiring them. While most people try to hire tech developers, it is much more important to recruit people in supporting roles. For instance, project management is a skill-based role that requires no advanced technical knowledge. However, it still offers a leading role in the technical industry.