The Hispanic Star, dedicated to improving opportunity and representation for Latinos in the US, has joined forces with IBM to prepare Hispanic youth for new collar tech jobs.
The initiative will help to increase access to education and careers through P-TECH schools in predominantly Hispanic communities. Hispanic Star will focus on increasing the number of mentoring, paid internships and entry-level employment offered to P-TECH students from underserved populations. The programme will also increase employer access to skilled Hispanic talent, it confirmed.
P-TECH is a public school model in the US designed to address education and workforce challenges thanks to partnerships between educators and industry leaders. It aims to strengthen the education-to-career pipeline for underserved youth.
NEW COLLAR JOB TRAINING
Most importantly, the programme enables students, mainly from underserved communities, to earn both a high school diploma and a no-cost associate degree. This qualification is also aligned to industry needs, as well as workplace experiences, including paid mentorship and internships within six years or less.
The country’s growth depends on having Hispanic employees prepared to perform high-tech economy jobs. By teaming up with IBM to advance P-TECH’s mission, Hispanic Star aims to strengthen regional economies and disadvantaged populations by creating a workforce that’s better prepared for ‘new collar’ jobs. In other words, skilled, tech positions that don’t necessarily require a traditional, four-year college/university degree, it pointed out.
ACCESS TO DIVERSE TECH TALENT
“Although Hispanics represent over 25% of the nation’s youth and 40% of the workforce, they make up only 5% of jobs in the tech, manufacturing and health industries,” pointed out Claudia Romo Edelman, Founder of the Hispanic Star. “By helping to recruit new Industry Partners to the P-TECH network, the Hispanic Promise aims to diversify and expand the number of mentorships, internships and apprenticeships available to underserved populations, many of which are Hispanic.”
The Hispanic Star will invite the 170 signatories of its Hispanic Promise initiative to join in this effort to expand industry involvement in P-TECH schools. As founder of the P-TECH model, IBM will provide the core expertise and logistical support to the newly recruited companies who are interested in supporting P-TECH schools/students.
The Hispanic Star will also be adding Open P-TECH – a programme launched by IBM to equip young people and educators with foundation knowledge on topics like cybersecurity, AI and cloud computing – to its digital toolkit. These tools are designed to build and improve the skills, employability and retention of today’s Hispanic workforce.
HISPANICS FUELLING ECONOMY
“In the US, 60.6 million Hispanics below 35 years old, are fuelling the economic and talent pool growth, and yet only 4% make it to executive positions,” stated Joel Mangan, IBM Executive Director of P-TECH. “P-TECH helps to address the lack of diversity and inclusion in many industries since the model encourages all students to succeed through one-on-one mentoring, workplace visits and paid internships.”
A recent survey conducted by IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) polled Hispanic attitudes about living in the US. Many respondents reported a lack of opportunities for professional advancement as a reason keeping them from climbing the career ladder. Key findings reveal that:
- 67% say that they have to work harder to succeed because of their Hispanic identity.
- Only 30% of junior managers surveyed have access to mentorship programmes or on-the-job training.
- Only 20% feel empowered to overcome their professional challenges.
EMPOWERING LATINOS
“Mentoring and access to professional advancement opportunities is highlighted as one of the strongest factors that helped those that made it to the top. It’s time to take action,” remarked Jesus Mantas, Senior Managing Partner, IBM Services and Co-chair of the IBM Hispanic Council. “This is why IBM is placing a bet on the Hispanic community on three key action pillars: education, mentorships and advocacy.”
The three action pillars create a corporate road map to empower the Hispanic community in the US to get ahead. IBM is working with policy makers and education leaders to double the number of P-TECH schools. It aims to prepare young people with the academic, technical and professional skills required for 21st century jobs in predominantly Hispanic communities. This effort will expand the programme to 150 schools in the US. This comprises 50% of the company’s total commitment of 300 by 2023.
MENTORSHIP MARATHON
IBM is also kicking-off its Mentorship Marathon to empower Hispanics to advance their career opportunities. The Marathon will begin with US P-TECH schools by matching 1,000 IBM mentors with the students, and encouraging other Fortune 500 firms to join.
“As a company, we believe diversity and inclusive teams are higher performing, more innovative, more resilient and a critical element to ensure ethical use of technology – including Artificial Intelligence – across our company and society,” added Mantas. “Education and mentorship are key to close the skills gap and prepare the younger generation with the skills of the future.”
A full study report on the IBV survey will be released at the beginning of 2021. For more information on the P-TECH Industry Partner Network, click here.
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