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There's a nationwide shortage of Hispanic women in IT, according to Dr Antonio Flores, president of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU, San Antonio, TX). HACU represents more than 350 accredited U.S. colleges and universities whose enrollment is at least 25 percent Hispanic. That includes the majority of the nation's Hispanic-serving institutions.
The shortage starts at the high school level, where a disproportionately lower number of Hispanic girls are enrolling in math and science college prep courses, Flores says.
"It's a pipeline issue. At the end of the pipeline, particularly in corporations, you find very few Latinas, because there are a lot of leakage points from one level to the next. That's the reality for Hispanics in general, but it's even more true for Hispanic women in IT."
Encouragement and networking
Meanwhile, Hispanic women who have successfully found jobs in the software arena say they encourage more like them to get involved in the field. Ana Maria Mendez, an analyst at SBC Communications (San Antonio, TX), says she was surprised at the diverse opportunities available in IT.
"Some women might think it's all math or coding or engineering, and that might drive them away. But really, it's the integration of the business sector with technology, which enables us to deliver what our customers need," she says. "Every day as I work on IT projects I am engaging individuals from the other business units."
Flores stresses the importance of networking for Latinas in IT. "Oftentimes, our Hispanic professionals don't have those networks, or not to the degree that others do, so they have to create or find them," he says.
Here are some Hispanic women who persevered and found success in the field, and are enjoying their new careers in IT.
Belen Sanchez: from Spain to California with Alcatel
Companies like Alcatel (Plano, TX) can offer new graduates IT opportunities in foreign countries, says Belen Sanchez, a software engineer at the company's Petaluma, CA location. Alcatel provides communications gear for carriers, service providers and businesses.
Sanchez, who is from Valladolid, Spain, graduated in 1998 from the University of Valladolid's School of Science. Her degree was in physics with an electronics emphasis, but she was attracted by Alcatel's intensive two-month IT training program that led to jobs in Belgium and the United States.
"The international experience is really great. You see how other people work together, and you can dive into other cultures," Sanchez says.
When Sanchez graduated, Spain was in the middle of a communications boom and there was a shortage of software engineers. She had taken a few programming and Unix-related courses in college, and quickly learned what she needed to know for her job at Alcatel.
Following two months of training in Madrid, Sanchez moved to Alcatel's Antwerp, Belgium location as a junior software engineer. She shuttled between Belgium and Washington, DC on a project to design technology for a new IP router.
Then, in August 2000, Sanchez moved to her current position in California, designing and coding the Litespan 2000 digital loop carrier. She's now working on the product's newest generation, the 7201.
She says that since she joined Alcatel, the IT market has changed. "When I first came to the U.S., it was the technology boom with the dot-coms. Telecommunications was growing like crazy too, but all of a sudden, it dropped to a sudden stop," Sanchez says. "When there are those big economic downs, with no new money to invest in technology, everything stops. I feel lucky because I'm involved in new projects most of the time. And now it seems like it's coming back up to speed."
Sanchez says she has noticed many differences between American and European work styles. "Generally speaking, I find that Americans are more respectful. Europeans tend to be more direct," she says. "At the same time, we are more group-oriented. In America, it is more individualized."
She adds that she has also been surprised that managers are not as "hierarchical" as they are in Europe. "I think there are more possibilities to get closer because of the way they interact with you," Sanchez says. She adds that her company has been very supportive of her and other foreign employees.
Currently on a temporary work visa, Sanchez gets help from the firm's human resources personnel on issues such as taxes and immigration. She's also pleased to find so many Spanish-speaking people in her region of California. "It's a blast," she says.
Juliana Gomez of GE Healthcare: IT in the GE family
Brazilian native Juliana Gomez has felt welcome at GE Healthcare (Waukesha, WI), where mentoring support has been readily accessible and adjustment to the Wisconsin community easy.
"That's why I cherish this company," Gomez says. "When you come in, you can easily find a mentor, because everyone is open for that."
GE Healthcare provides medical technologies to diagnose, treat and manage patients with cancer, Alzheimer's and cardiovascular diseases. Gomez is a client services manager, building software programs for the ultrasound division and other departments within the company.
Gomez works with project leaders and programmers both onshore and offshore. "I'm always looking at a timeline, budgeting, prioritizing and making sure we have the right people. And I get help from others if needed."
GE Healthcare is Gomez's second stop in the GE family. She previously worked for GE Rail (Erie, PA), a locomotive and propulsion system supplier, in a similar capacity. She got her foot in the door through an internship in 1998.
Gomez notes that her broad education has given her a career advantage. She first received an associates degree in data processing at Mackenzie University (S‹o Paulo, Brazil) in 1994 and then a bachelors in economics at the State University of NY-Buffalo in 1997. She received her MBA in 1999.
Gomez chose to live in the northern U.S. because her father, who worked for General Motors, traveled there for business, particularly to Delphi Corp (Lockport, NY), an automotive systems company. She did internships at Delphi in 1996 and 1997, doing comparative marketing analysis and program management.
She moved to GE Rail in 1999, and was accepted into the firm's two-year Information Management Leadership program, which puts students through four six-month rotations in information management. "You could be in any IT department from infrastructure team to remote monitoring and diagnostics," she says.
When she finished her rotations, Gomez was in charge of deploying wireless networks for shop floor employees at GE Rail's customer service field operations, and later became a program leader. The company even asked her to travel to Mexico to train Spanish-speaking employees. Although Gomez's native language is Portuguese, she had learned Spanish from her Argentinean grandmother, and more recently, polished her skills with her Mexican husband. In 2003, she moved to her current job at GE Healthcare.
Since Gomez started, IT has become an increasingly strategic partner with business, she says. "In the past, we needed to make sure the network was up and everyone had a website. Nowadays, if you are not totally partnered with IT, you're set for failure."
She notes that her Brazilian upbringing affects the way she approaches her team members. "In my culture, the people are very involving, very embracing. I need to make sure that the person in front of me is comfortable with me. That shows in my work very much, whether you take a group of people out or you go and buy a coffee for a co-worker," she says.
IBM's Michelle Mattey enjoys cultural differences
Michelle Mattey, a native of Venezuela and a recently naturalized U.S. citizen, was accustomed to balmy climates, sandy beaches and a fiery Hispanic culture. Then, in January of 2002, she joined IBM at its offices in Rochester, MN, where the winter temperatures dip into the negative digits and she describes most of her colleagues as "reserved, conservative Scandinavian types."
"They say I talk a lot!" Mattey laughs. "Being a Hispanic person, I suppose I am a little more colorful." Even though Spanish speakers are few and far between in the Midwest, she enjoys the mix of cultures. "The people around here appreciate my heritage," she says.
Mattey is a configuration management software engineer. She does data modeling as part of a forty-five person team working on the IBM eConfig Sales Configurator. The eConfig application is a tool that lets IBM's business partners order accurate eServer workstation software configurations.
"My responsibility is to make sure all products assigned to me have the right set of feature codes in the configurator. This is so the person doing the ordering will see the right features and the right machine," Mattey says.
Mattey has been able to use her fluency in Spanish to help customers in other countries. "One time I talked with a customer in Brazil. She was talking Portuguese, but we could understand each other," Mattey says. She has even helped with translation during job interviews with Spanish-speaking candidates.
Mattey grew up in Venezuela, spent her middle school years in the U.S., then returned with her family to Venezuela for high school. She began her education in information systems at the Universidad de Oriente (Sucre, Venezuela).
Her younger sister had gone to Miami for college. Mattey decided she would have more career opportunities if she did the same. In 1998, she transferred to Miami Dade Community College (Miami, FL), where she received an associates degree in computer science, moving on to Florida International University (Miami, FL) for a bachelors in the same discipline. Mattey's entire family came to Miami in 1999, and in 2000, Mattey became a U.S. citizen.
IBM hired her after an interview at a college job fair. "With the recession and IT business down, I was glad to get into a company," Mattey says.
Mattey is finishing a 2005 masters degree in software engineering from the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN), for which the company is footing the bill. Though the double workload is difficult, Mattey is keeping her eye on the future.
"I don't think of the 'now,' but all the benefits I'll get once I get the degree and advance in my career," she says.
Melissa Blueflower-Sanchez: integrating users at LANL
Melissa Blueflower-Sanchez moved from student programs to a full-time job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos, NM).
Los Alamos develops and applies technology to ensure the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent, reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, and solve national problems in defense, energy, environment and infrastructure.
Blueflower-Sanchez is a technical staff member in the lab's computing and communications networking division, and the project leader of an effort to integrate 1,000 lab staff computer users into a new centralized system. Her other daily duties involve maintaining fourteen servers for a division at the laboratory and helping with desktop support.
Keeping up with technology is a constant challenge. "In this field, you have to take a lot of training, and you have to learn fast. I enjoy doing it, although sometimes it's stressful."
Blueflower-Sanchez grew up on the Tewa Native American reservation in Santa Clara Pueblo, about ten miles from the laboratory. Her father is Tewa and her mother is Hispanic, from the Espa–ola Valley in northern New Mexico.
Ever since she was small, Blueflower-Sanchez has been fascinated by computers. In high school, she enjoyed programming classes. "What fascinated me was using my brain to complete problems and see the output," she says.
Blueflower-Sanchez joined the laboratory's half-day program for high schoolers when she was a senior. During its busy times, the lab has as many as 1,900 students in various categories, says lab spokesman Steve Sandoval. "We are actively trying to grow our workforce" by bringing in new grads, he says.
During college, Blueflower-Sanchez worked in desktop support as part of the lab's program for undergraduates. She received associates degrees from the University of New Mexico (Los Alamos, NM) in microcomputer technology and from Northern New Mexico Community College (Espa–ola and El Rito, NM) in computer networking.
In 2002 Blueflower-Sanchez completed her BSCS at the College of Santa Fe (Santa Fe, NM), for which the lab allowed her time off, and moved her up to the position of technical staff member. The lab reimbursed her for the tuition.
Los Alamos supports the cultures its diverse workers represent. Sandoval notes that northern New Mexico is forty-two percent Hispanic, and Hispanics are well-represented throughout the lab's workforce.
Blueflower-Sanchez says she has always felt supported, both as a Native American and a Latina. "Since I am a double minority, I participate in different activities. There are ceremonial activities on my Native American side, and the lab has allowed me time off to do these. I thank them for that," she says.
Theresa Gamboa works on radar systems for Raytheon
Theresa Gamboa has been able to use her EE degree in her job as multidisciplined software engineer for radar systems at Raytheon in El Segundo, CA. The Waltham, MA-based firm is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space technology, information technology, technical services and business aviation/special mission aircraft.
Gamboa chose an EE major because of her math and science abilities, but focused on software and computer architecture after she recognized the importance of those skills. She graduated in 2002 from California State Polytechnic University (Pomona, CA).
"I preferred my software classes in school," she says. "I had the computer interest already, and that allowed me to fully explore the computer architecture classes. I discovered that it was not only my interest, but my strength."
After her college graduation, Gamboa began an MSEE with an emphasis in computer systems. She wrote control software as part of a school team that built a small robotic mouse programmed to find its way through a maze. Good grades and the exposure to the high-profile project led to her current job at Raytheon, which she started in 2003.
"Basically, I spend most of the day in the lab and work on my code that controls a piece of hardware in the radar system," she says. "I need to change the code to work with new hardware. My electrical engineering experience makes it easier for me to understand how to control the hardware."
She says that while she's had to work hard to understand radar systems, that new knowledge is what she likes most about her job. "I'm being taught new things and applying those things to what I am producing for a customer. At first, I was overwhelmed. But now the project lead thinks I have handled it quite well."
Gamboa grew up in Montclair, CA, where she still lives. She is a second-generation American; her parents are U.S.-born, but her grandparents were from Mexico.
"My parents taught me to always do well in school and work hard. Things may be difficult, but they told me not to regard anything as unachievable," she says.
Raytheon has been a supportive employer, Gamboa reports. She signed up for its Young Engineers' and Scientists' network, which introduces employees like herself to the company culture. And some of her friends from college are now fellow co-workers.
Ana Maria Mendez: a new field at SBC
Ana Maria Mendez's degree was in managerial economics, so her entry into the IT field was just luck, she says.
Mendez had been interviewing for jobs in the financial and business sectors after graduating from the University of California, Davis in 2000, but happened to notice a job ad for a local position as an associate analyst for San Antonio, TX-based SBC Communications. The position involved assessing business requirements for the development of IT test planning and documentation.
"I saw an opportunity to use my business background and incorporate new skills," Mendez says. She became an associate analyst with the billing department at SBC's office in San Ramon, CA that August. In the spring of 2004, she finished her masters degree in information systems at the University of San Francisco (San Francisco, CA).
"Just being exposed to IT led me to continue my education and further my development in the IT industry," Mendez says. "I am a strong believer in IT as a business tool," she declares.
SBC companies provide voice and data telecommunications products and services for consumers and businesses.
Shortly after Mendez started at SBC, she joined the company's Billing Leadership Program, which lasted two and a half months. "Within the billing IT department, there are numerous applications. You study them and then the new hires present their findings," Mendez explains. "I was amazed at how complex technology is and how it can help a business meet its objectives. It's how I found my niche."
Mendez is still in the billing department. "Now I'm dealing with projects that are focusing on the integration of systems in different regions," she says. One recent integration project started in summer 2001 and ended at the beginning of 2004. Mendez explains that big projects are handled in phases.
At SBC, Mendez is involved in the Hispanic Association of Communications Employees of SBC, a networking group. Every year, the group hosts "High Technology Day" across thirteen states, and invites high school students to attend workshops at the company. The San Ramon office has had 100 student participants, Mendez says. "As a Hispanic woman, I have found that the company overall supports diversity," she says.
She too has been able to use her native language at work. "If we need to test scenarios for Spanish accounts, I can read the bills for Spanish customers in our test group, but my current position does not require me to speak Spanish very often," Mendez says. "But I think overall speaking Spanish is an advantage. We are in a global economy. If you have a second language, it gives you a competitive advantage."
Mendez was born in El Salvador and came to the U.S. with her family when she was ten. Five years later, the family became citizens.
Mendez says her family environment, which is united and close, played a strong role in how she approaches her fellow employees at SBC. "I'm close and open with my family, and I also do that within my teams. I think it's critical that individuals feel free to speak their mind if something is wrong. If something is good, they should be able to say that too."
She says she is grateful to her parents for their sacrifices. Her mother had been a banking executive in El Salvador. Her father, who had been an agricultural engineer for the government of El Salvador, wanted to attend UC Davis for his masters. But he was concerned about uprooting his family and decided instead to start a landscaping business.
"My parents sacrificed a lot to ensure that my sister and I got a good education and the opportunity to develop," Mendez says.
With their language skills and culture of family and hard work, Hispanic women should be attractive candidates for entry-level software positions and good prospects for advancement, HACU president Flores maintains. Applicants, he says, should aggressively highlight those strengths.
"I think they also need to reach out to others and get more of them to join the field through mentoring and tutoring, so that there is a generational effect on younger people's success," Flores declares.
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