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In the mid to late 1990s, working for a computer company meant big salaries and huge stock options, lots of opportunities and outstanding perks. Both government and private projections predicted explosive growth in IT.
Students entering college - including African American women - wanted to benefit from this growth. So they enrolled in computer courses and sought out professional and financial opportunities in the growing IT field. Then the dot-com bubble burst and many of these students wondered if they had made the right choice.
These recent African American women graduates are sure they did. They're convinced that they can still make the most of their degrees with determination and hard work. Although there may be challenges and bumps in the road, many are finding professionally and personally rewarding opportunities in the IT field.
Adrienne Garrett: product engineer/application developer at Intel
Adrienne Garrett's father and uncles all worked in technical fields, so it's not surprising that she jumped at the chance to take a computer class in sixth grade. After her first taste of the technical side of computers, she was hooked.
"I have been interested in computers since I was a child. I have always been very mathematical and scientific. After taking that first class in computers, I knew the field was for me," she says.
She's been building her career in CS ever since. At Oak Ridge High School (Orlando, FL), Garrett participated in a co-op program, where she took high school classes in the morning and computer classes at a community college in the afternoon.
At Florida State University (Tallahassee), she majored in computer science and graduated with a BS degree in 2001. Garrett was immediately hired as a product engineer/application developer in the IT department of Intel, the giant chip producer in Santa Clara, CA. She works with other team members to ensure the overall health of Intel's internal systems, including its servers and networks.
Even though she spent many years preparing for her career, Garrett found the first few months of her professional life a challenge. "There's so much to learn about new platforms and applications," she says. "And I also had a lot to learn about the company's culture and values."
But the support Intel offered made the transition easier. Through the Network of Intel African American Employees, Garrett was paired with an information technology mentor, an African American woman who works in her department. Garrett could ask her mentor questions about her job and functions within the department. In addition, she worked with an "IT buddy" from another part of the company with whom she could discuss concerns outside her day-to-day chain of command.
"Your IT buddy is someone who can show you the ropes, someone who does not work with you directly, so you have anonymity," she says. "Your IT mentor, on the other hand, is someone with a few more years in the field and can help you with technical concerns. Both of them have been really beneficial for me."
Although Garrett has launched a successful career in information technology at Intel, she fears that African American females who work for other companies may not be lucky enough to have such support.
"You don't see many African American women working in information technology," she says. "I would like to see more people like myself go into the schools to tell young girls that opportunities exist, that African American women are working in information technology and that they are very successful."
Holly Jackson: IT consultant at Unisys
Holly Jackson had little exposure to computer technology in high school, but she knew she was good at math and science. When she entered college, she headed for an IT degree.
"In a short time, the information technology field got very big," she says. "I wanted to be part of it. I saw opportunities and wanted to take advantage of them."
Jackson majored in computer science at Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta, GA). She graduated in May 2002 and started working for Unisys (Blue Bell, PA) the following September.
Her career has blossomed. As an IT consultant, Jackson moves from project to project, working on both project management and technical support.
"I never get bored because I work on so many different things and with many different clients," Jackson says. "I'm very satisfied. My career is certainly meeting my expectations."
Even though the IT field has taken its lumps in a slow economy, Jackson still believes that there are plenty of opportunities for women and minorities.
"The field is still dominated by white men. While this might be intimidating, African American women should not underestimate their ability to succeed in the field. There are so many opportunities," she says.
Jackson plans to improve her professional options by earning an MBA and then looking to move into technology management.
Jessica Rich: info tech analyst at the Principal Financial Group
Jessica Rich graduated from college just a few months before the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, DC.
"The whole situation made me very nervous," she recalls. "I knew that the economy would suffer because of the tragedy. Having just graduated from college, I wasn't sure if I would be able to get a job."
But Rich quickly landed a position as an information technology analyst at the Principal Financial Group (Des Moines, IA).
Rich originally chose to major in computer science at Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, IL) because "it is the only field in which I could work for hours without getting bored. I love to sit and write code."
She has found some challenges at Principal Financial. "In school, we worked on one or two projects at a time. Now I have to deal with about fifty programs and standards. It is much more complicated," she says.
Rich enjoys the challenge and wants to advance in the field. "I feel that I can grow by pursuing the many available opportunities. In five or ten years, I'd like to be leading initiatives and working in project management."
Rich hopes that other African American females will realize that opportunities are attainable in IT.
"Tradition dies hard. I remember my father giving me an article about computer programmers and I got a picture in my head of a white male. But don't think the field is not for us. I am here to say it is! I love the IT field and have already done very well in it."
Merline Saintil: software engineering team lead, Sun Microsystems
"I work hard. It's all about achievement. If you produce results, you will be rewarded," says Merline Saintil, software engineering team lead at Sun Microsystems (Menlo Park, CA).
That's pretty much the philosophy that Saintil has adopted since coming to South Florida from Haiti at the age of six. With the belief that she could achieve anything with hard work and determination, Saintil became valedictorian of her high school class.
Her college years at Florida A&M University (FAMU, Tallahassee) were equally successful. Saintil did a co-op as a computer programmer at Minnesota Mutual Life (Minneapolis, MN) during her freshman year, and another developing a GUI client/server application at Electronic Data Systems (EDS, Plano, TX). EDS awarded her its Vision of Success scholarship, which covered tuition, fees and books and included the summer internship. She did one more internship, at Eli Lilly (Indianapolis, IN), during her senior year. Saintil earned her bachelors degree in CIS with a 4.0 GPA in 1998.
After graduation, Saintil went to work as a software engineer at Pratt & Whitney (West Palm Beach, FL) where she developed applications for the Joint Strike Fighter/F119 programs. In 1999, she returned to Eli Lilly to work on an FDA-mandated IT project.
In October 2000, she joined the developer platform group organization in the software division of Sun Microsystems (Menlo Park, CA). There Saintil leads a team supporting developers using Sun Java Studio Standard Tools and Compiler Collection products.
"This gives me the opportunity to grow into engineering management," Saintil says. "I get to stay technical by leading the engineers and speaking their lingo. But I also learn how to lead projects."
To help her along the road to management, Saintil has participated in Sun's Women in Management program, a mentoring initiative that helps to prepare women for leadership positions.
"I definitely want to climb the corporate ladder and see where my abilities will take me," Saintil says. "Even though people of color are underrepresented, we can do anything we want. Work hard enough and you will get somewhere."
While Saintil enjoys the daily technological challenges, she also loves the flexibility that technology offers. Instead of spending all of her time in Sun's Menlo Park office, Saintil can split her time among the main site, a satellite drop-in location and her own home office.
"Technology gives me the best of both worlds," she says. "I don't have to hassle with commuting. But I don't miss out on interacting with colleagues the way a completely home-based worker might."
Jillian DaCosta: software developer with Sun Microsystems
"If you have drive and ambition - no matter what color you are - you can be successful," says Jillian DaCosta.
DaCosta has lived up to her own words. Always interested in technology, she attended Brooklyn Technical Institute,
a specialized New York City high school that emphasizes technical careers. She describes it as "a mini college."
Her official college career started at Rutgers University (Camden, NJ). But she decided to transfer after a semester exchange program at Howard University, a historically black university in Washington, DC.
"College is more than just the curriculum. The teachers and students were different at Howard. I learned how to get out into the workforce as an African American," DaCosta notes.
DaCosta completed her degree in computer science in May 2000. During school, she interned at Hewlett-Packard (Palo Alto, CA) and IBM (Armonk, NY). During her senior year, she worked as the Microsoft representative on campus. After graduation, though, she took a position with Sun Microsystems (Santa Clara, CA) working as a software developer at the company's Burlington, MA offices near Boston.
"After I posted my resume to their website, they called and asked me to interview. I liked the people and the fact that I would start out as a software developer. Many women shy away from hard-core programming. It's a tough, time-consuming job and a very male-oriented field. But I looked at the dollars and said, 'I sure don't mind that,'" she remembers. And DaCosta has never shied away from competing with men. In college, about 80 percent of her CS classmates were male.
When she started at Sun, the strong economy was creating plenty of opportunity for whoever wanted to take it. DaCosta took advantage of Sun's financial support to earn her MIS from Boston University in 2001.
"In 2000, Sun was in its glory days, like many other technology companies. We would work late nights, play ping-pong and eat pizza," she recalls. "I enjoyed it tremendously. Even though I was not of the same race and gender as most of my co-workers, we were all young graduates and it was fun to mingle."
DaCosta, who now works for Sun in McLean, VA just outside Washington, DC, was aware of the challenges associated with being an African American female during the recent tight economy. She still enjoys her work at Sun, but realizes that making a move is not as easy as it once was.
DaCosta has relied on the support of the Black Employees Network at Sun. She has also been part of a diversity work group that included one person from each business division.
"The council gave a presentation to upper management on company needs from a diversity perspective," she says. "Sun is trying to create an environment where all people are accepted and included and where there is opportunity for advancement and promotion for all."
Lawanda Castile: IT career service advisor at Robert Morris College
Lawanda Castile has seen plenty of changes in the information technology field in the last few years.
Castile graduated from Robert Morris College (Chicago, IL) in September 1998 with a bachelors degree in computer network systems. "I actually started my college studies in accounting but I love computers and that's what I kept coming back to," she says.
During college, Castile had a computer support job with the City of Chicago. After graduation, she found a job as a technical analyst with United Airlines (Elk Grove Village, IL).
"Working at United was a great learning experience. I got a chance to learn different software programs and the people were great too. It was a comfortable environment," Castile says. "And, of course, I got the opportunity to travel."
After she was laid off in 2003, she began looking for a job. But in the unsettled economy, she found many fewer opportunities available.
She eventually landed a position as a technical support analyst at Thornton Fractional High School, a public secondary school in Calumet City, IL. Castile worked with both students and teachers helping them set up computer accounts and troubleshooting when there were problems.
"I like to find out why things are not working. I enjoyed being the go-to person," she says.
Being an African American woman can actually be a plus in hiring situations, she believes. But once on the job, minority women need to constantly protect their professional turf. Castile plans to improve her chances by getting a masters degree in business and earning a few more computer certifications.
"To a certain extent, you may be overlooked. You may also get a lot of the administrative work. I don't think that happens if you are a man," she comments.
After five months at the high school, Castile recently returned to her alma matter as a career services advisor for graduates of the Robert Morris College School of Computer Studies. She helps IT students, new grads and alums in their job searches. "It's very exciting to be able to share my knowledge and experience as a job hunter with others. It's a great opportunity!" she says.
Antoinette Wellington: help desk support specialist at DAR
Antoinette Wellington had two strong professional role models: her father, a computer programmer, and her mother, a nurse practitioner. Both encouraged Wellington to follow in their footsteps.
She started college with a major in respiratory therapy. "During my first internship, I got sick in the hospital," she recalls. "From that point on, I decided to investigate a computer career."
The decision definitely appears to be the right one for Wellington. "Once I took my first computer class, I realized that I loved this field," she says.
Wellington got her BS degree in computer networking and computer information systems in June 2002 from Strayer University (Tacoma Park, MD). She went on to complete an MS in electronic e-commerce from the University of Maryland (College Park).
For the past two years, she has been working as a help desk support specialist for the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR, Washington, DC), a volunteer women's service organization that was founded in 1890. There, Wellington has performed a wide variety of duties including the coordinating of chapter passwords and access codes for the organization's websites, solving DAR application software problems and helping state chapter leaders generate reports for the DAR secretary general's office. She's also provided technical support to DAR members via e-mail and phone.
All this activity keeps Wellington engaged in what she is doing. "I really love working with computers. It is never boring. You constantly learn new ideas, test your skills and expand your horizons," she says.
She is currently working on a second masters degree, an MBA from U of Maryland that she hopes to finish in 2005. And she hopes to someday earn a law degree, specializing in intellectual property.
"I envision myself running an organization someday. I want to make all the decisions and make sure the organization is performing well," she says. "In the next five or ten years, I hope to be running a law firm or an IT company."
Tamika Peten: instructor with Arch Training Center
Tamika Peten is determined to make a go of the information technology field. "I see lots of entrepreneurial opportunities through IT jobs and with new technologies," Peten says. "I envision myself being a security analyst and studying for a PhD in educational technology."
Between 1997 and 2000, however, Peten had a tough time finding a job in the high-tech industry. She supported herself with administrative work, mostly through personal connections. "They thought of me for administrative or lower level positions, not for IT-related jobs."
Peten finally landed a job in 2000 as an incident response coordinator for a consulting firm, doing computer forensics to document employee misconduct at financial companies. In 2001, she moved on to become a systems analyst at a government contracting firm. After only three months, however, the contract was discontinued.
Since then, Peten has been working as an instructor at the Arch Training Center (Washington, DC), an organization that works with community youth, helping them get their GED degrees and develop job readiness skills. She is still pursuing a career in information technology and is working on a masters in information security management at Trinity College (Washington, DC).
"My greatest challenge has been finding a job in the IT field. It has also been difficult finding my place and staying focused, but I'm still working at it."
Jenine Collett Parchmon: technical business analyst at gedas USA, Inc
Jenine Collett Parchmon, a 2001 graduate of Oakland University (Rochester, MI), is sure that there are plenty of opportunities in information technology.
"I think the limited career opportunities available to me after graduation really had nothing to do with me as an African American woman, but rather a declining job market," she says.
Parchmon kept looking. She landed an internship during her senior year of college at gedas USA Inc (Rochester Hills, MI), an IT solutions service provider, working as an intranet administrator. After graduation she was hired into a permanent job as a technical business analyst at gedas.
Parchmon is determined to advance. "Growing up, I saw my father climb the corporate ladder and I knew from an early age I wanted to do the same thing," she says. "I chose IT because I knew I would have the opportunity to advance in a growing field, one that interests me."
Parchmon would ultimately like to own an IT consulting firm, working with small- and mid-size businesses. "The world is so saturated with technology that consultants will always be needed to support existing applications and build new ones," Parchmon says.
Although the information technology job market has changed in the last few years, there are still opportunities for those who go after them. African American women are finding that though there are plenty of challenges, the computer industry still offers many professional, financial and personal rewards.
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