Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
from 41% to 34.9% between 1996 and 2002, and the per
centage of African Americans in the overall IT workforce
fell from 9.1% to 8.2% during the same period. However,
when administrative positions were removed from consid
eration, . . . percentages of both groups rose slightly over
the six years. The percentage of women IT professionals
rose from 25% to 25.3% of the workforce, and the per
centage of African American IT professionals also rose
slightly from 6% to 6.2% between 1996 and 2002.
The ITAA findings indicate that while these small gains have
been made in the number of women and minorities in the work
force, the groups still are underrepresented in the IT workforce as
compared to their representation in the whole U.S. workforce.
Women comprised 46.6% of the U.S. workforce [in 2002, as com
pared with their 25% representation in computing] and African
Americans represented 10.9% of the U.S. workforce in 2002 [with
only 6% representation in computing].
Of course, access to computing represents only one component
of the causes that lead to this type of imbalance. Of particular inter
est is the
cumulative
effect of lessthanpreferable access to comput
ers with respect to gender and ethnic minorities and their career
choices; presumably limited access over time has a real impact on
comfort with and interest in computers, although to what extent we
do not know. Computer access is, however, a highly visible factor
related to the computing industry, and thus may provide one focus
for discussions and policies.
Software filters
are, in general, programs that scan information
(Web pages, email messages, other files) as it comes into your ma
chine and then block selected information according to predeter
mined criteria. Antivirus software represents one type of software
filter, comparing all incoming files to lists of known viruses; if the
antivirus software identifies a likely virus, the software may throw
it away, place the file in a special area, delete or change the infected
part of the file, or otherwise take action to try to protect your com
puter. In the context of this discussion, however, we consider soft
ware filters that go beyond scanning for viruses, looking instead for
files containing material that someone has defined as having “objec
