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Diversity in the High-Tech IndustryD iversity issues related to the high-tech industry can’t be missed in thenews today. Whether it is a story about pay inequity among men and women, orresearch showing that the industry workforce composition is largelyhomogeneous, the headlines are unavoidable. CompTIA’s new research found that7 in 10 people working in the high-tech industry today say they have heard orread about workplace diversity issues in the last 12 months.And that has sparked much discussion. This report reflects the views andexperiences of high-tech workers of all races, genders, ages and job roles onthe topics of diversity and inclusion.## Key PointsThe diversity discussion is often contradictory Consider the following data points: nearly 8 in 10 high-tech industry workerssay they are satisfied with their organization’s diversity efforts, 44% saydiversity is a high priority for their employers, and 87% say they’ve workedin a department comprised of a diverse group of employees in the last year. Atthe same time, 45% say the industry has lagged in promoting diversity, aposition backed by statistics from the U.S. Equal Employment OpportunityCommission that find a workforce overwhelmingly white and male, with fewerAfrican Americans, women and Hispanics than non-tech industries.The gender gap is widest when it comes to pay equity Pay inequity resonates loudly with women, no surprise. Two-thirds of women inhigh tech said they would leave their job if they discovered pay imbalancesamong employees doing equal work. That compares with 44% of men who said thesame. Promotions are an issue too. A report last year by non-profit AscendFoundation found that Asian Americans were least likely of all races to reachmanagement level despite having more workers in the sector than other non-white races.Diverse workforces spur innovation Sixty-four percent of respondents said they agree that an organization with aheterogeneous employee base is more likely to produce world-class innovationthan one with that is largely homogeneous in makeup. Another 28% at leastpartially agree with that premise, while just 9% disagree. The near-consensuson diversity’s impact on innovation spans all segments of the survey sample,including small, medium and large organizations, all age groups, genders,races and ethnicities.Hiring the most qualified candidate carries weight Of all the actions that an organization can take to get a passing grade whenit comes to diversity, hiring the best candidate for the job tops the list.Forty-eight percent of respondents said this is what they value most. Otherthings they find important: a human resources department that activelyrecruits a diverse workforce; a top-down corporate culture that is diversity-friendly; an environment where diversity efforts do not overshadow all otherstrategic goals; formal inclusion initiatives to reduce turnover amongminority employees; and the existence of an official diversity policy/report.# HIGH TECH AND DIVERSITYWhether it is a headline about an engineer fired for writing a controversialposition paper on gender, or the sobering fact that the number of AfricanAmericans working in the tech industry hovers in single-digit territory, thetech sector is having a reckoning of sorts on the topic of workplace diversityand inclusion.Diversity issues can’t be missed in the news. CompTIA’s study found that 7 in10 people working in the high-tech industry today say they have heard or readabout workplace diversity issues in the last 12 months. Of that 70% ofrespondents, 4 in 10 found these accounts to be generally positive and focusedon the progress the industry is making around diversity and inclusion.Conversely, 3 in 10 instead view these news report as negative in nature,focused on problems the high tech industry has with diversity and inclusionamong its workforce. Another 31% call what they have read or seen a bit ofboth good and bad.Clearly, opinion and experience can differ widely when it comes to a sensitivetopic such as the high-tech industry’s record on workplace diversity, and thisreport will detail many of those positions. But the numbers tell an objectivestory. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) conducted acomprehensive study called Diversity in High Tech that has served as a solidbenchmark of diversity statistics. Consider several of its findings: * Compared with overall private industry, the high-tech sector employed a larger share of white workers (68.5% vs 63.5%), Asian Americans (14% vs 5.8%), and men (64% vs 52%), while a smaller share of African Americans (7.4% vs 14.4%), Hispanics (8% vs 13.9%), and women (36% vs 48%). * In the tech sector nationwide, whites are represented at a much higher rate in executive-level roles than African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans. Furthermore, by gender, men occupy 80% of executive roles compared with 20% for women. That compares with the overall private sector, where 71% of executive positions are held by men and 29% occupied by women. * In Silicon Valley specifically, employment of women and men in non-technology industry firms is at about parity with 49% women and 51% men. That compares to a 30% participation rate for women at 75 leading tech firms that the EEOC documented. What’s more, even among high-tech firms that employ a more diverse workforce,the majority of their tech-specific jobs, such as coding, are held by whiteworkers, mainly men. Minorities and women in high-tech companies – exclusiveof Asians – tend to serve in non-technical positions.Retention is also a major consideration. Consider this 2017 statistic from theCenter for Talent Innovation: women who do work in technical fields leavetheir jobs at a 45% higher rate than men do. Much of this attrition isattributed to corporate culture issues, lack of inclusion, pay inequity orother forms of individual or institutional bias.That said, many tech companies today are putting effort into diversifyingtheir workforces and creating environments in which employees of allbackgrounds feel included and able to contribute. Recruitment and hiringefforts have ramped up in the past few years, as has implementation of formalprocesses and best practices such as issuing annual diversity reports.Apple, for example, issued its diversity report last fall under thestewardship of its newly appointed vice president of diversity and inclusion,Denise Young Smith. In it, some strides are evident: From July 2016 to July2017, half of the company’s new hires in the U.S. were from historicallyunderrepresented groups in the high-tech industry. The new hires also reflectmore diversity than its current employees. For example, 11% of Apple’s newhires were African American compared to its current black employee populationof 9%. These improvements, however, still place the company – and most of itscontemporaries – behind the eight ball when it comes to a truly diverseworkforce.It should be noted also that major tech firms such as Apple, with its roughly83,000 U.S. employees, have resources for deeper diversity efforts. Many SMBfirms deal with challenges that larger companies do not, such as being locatedin a geographic region with a mostly homogeneous workforce pool or lacking ahuman resources staff to spearhead recruiting.# THE HIGH-TECH WORKPLACECompTIA’s study features data collected from respondents who work in the hightech industry, as well as from employees in other industries such asmanufacturing, retail, healthcare etc. For purposes of this report, we referto the latter category of respondents as “general business.” High-techrespondents were comprised of technology vendors, ISVs, distributors, solutionproviders, managed services providers, telecom channel agents, and digitalmarketing agencies.The objectives of the study included having respondent’s assess and gradetheir own workplace on its diversity standing and efforts, as well as toevaluate individual workers’ attitudes about the state of diversity in thetech industry. Is it a priority? Do you see diversity reflected in your ownwork environment? Are there official policies and processes in place to hire,retain, and promote workers of historically under-represented backgrounds?When it comes to who bears responsibility for setting a tone and agenda thatencourages and supports workplace diversity, respondents agree that manyconstituents have a role: the company itself, individual workers, federal andstate governments, and the courts. Roughly 7 in 10 of both high-tech andgeneral business workers, however, believe ultimate responsibility lies withcompany leaders. Clearly, this makes sense as the top brass in anyorganization tend to dictate culture, work environment, and policies aroundhiring practices and promotions.Interestingly, respondents in an executive-level role at their organizationsput less of the onus for diversity tone-setting on company leaders than didmiddle managers and staff level workers. Sixty percent of executives said thecompany has prime responsibility, compared with 80%, respectively, of theother two sets of respondents.Instead, executives placed more emphasis on individual workers for settingtone and agenda around diversity, with 35% of them saying individuals shoulderprimary responsibility. That compares with just 12% of middle managers and 9%of staff who believe the buck stops with individual workers.While this might seem self-serving on the part of executive-level managerslooking to avoid sole accountability for diversity efforts, it’s also smartpolicy. Cliché as it sounds, building and fostering diversity in the workplacetakes a village. Recruiting from a diverse talent pool is just a first step;creating an inclusive, non-hostile and fair environment that will retainminority workers and see them flourish is just as important. Consider that 3in 10 non-white high-tech workers in the study said they left a job because ofa lack of diversity or hostile culture. Fixing this takes team effort.Ironically, the vast majority of high-tech workers say they are satisfied withthe diversity efforts of their companies, though statistics from EEOC andother government sources continue to reveal an industry workforce that ispredominantly white and male. One theory for the positivity? Lagging diversityhas played large in the news of late, and the media spotlight may be signalingto workers that companies are growing more aware of the need to step up theirefforts to employ a more varied set of employees.# MYTH, PERCEPTION OR REALITY?As previously indicated, the high-tech industry has garnered its fair share ofmedia coverage related to workplace diversity in the past several years. Muchof the reporting has been negative, calling out the industry on a raft ofissues from sexism and ageism in the office to conscious and unconscious biasin hiring and recruiting strategies. Case in point, a Pew Research reportreleased in January highlights a pervasive problem of racial and gender biasamong STEM-oriented workers, especially those working within the high-techindustry. The same study also throws cold water on the often-cited reason forlack of diversity in the tech industry; namely, a “pipeline” problem caused bya dearth of minority and women job candidates. Pew’s African American andHispanic respondents undercut this argument. A majority of these respondentstold Pew they were indeed in the pipeline, seeking high-tech industry jobs.Yet they either weren’t selected for the job after their interview process, orthey were hired but left their employment thereafter due to diversity issuesin the workplace.There are nuances, of course, and the industry has been working to diversifyits employee base and increase awareness about inclusion and sensitivity. Inan attempt to understand what high-tech industry workers themselves thinkabout media characterizations and the state of diversity in their industry,CompTIA’s study focused in part on what they think about several commonly heldperceptions/stereotypes/facts in the news today. Respondents were askedwhether they agreed or disagreed with a statement, and to what degree.Overwhelmingly, and regardless of their racial, gender or age status,respondents agree that organizations should hire the best candidate for thejob without regard for diversity. While this does not mean that organizationsshould not actively recruit and seek a diverse set of job candidates, theinference in the data is that hiring decisions, ultimately, should bepredicated on the most-qualified person for the job. What many experts onworkplace diversity contend, however, is that the metrics by which a candidateis measured can unwittingly hold bias based on the viewpoint of the persondoing the hiring. For example, a white man might define qualificationcharacteristics in a very different way than a woman or minority in the hiringrole might. Experts urge companies to consider such things as a candidate’ssocioeconomic background, for example, as a measure of how many hurdles theymay have had to overcome to reach this point in their career. Thesecontributing factors could make a candidate best for the job.Four in 10 respondents agreed that the high-tech industry has not been aswelcoming to hiring women for tech-specific jobs, a view nearly identicalamong men (40%) and women (43%). It’s an interesting finding, given that 43%of all respondents also agreed that the high-tech workforce is largely ahomogeneous group of white males, while another 24% at least partially agreewith that premise. Non-whites agreed with the statement in slightly highernumbers (46% vs 41% of white respondents).What is most surprising is that a full third of all respondents disagree thatwhite males comprise the majority of the high-tech industry workforce, whileanother 24% at least partially disagree that that is the case. Workforcedemographics numbers from the EEOC, Pew and other third-party and governmentalgroups simply do not bear this out for the U.S. marketplace. A partialexplanation for the response could be aspirational in nature; namely thatemployees like to think that they work in a diverse, inclusive culture –whether they do or not. Other factors could be in play too; for exampleworking in a diverse department such as call-center customer service couldlead an individual worker to overestimate the company’s overall workforcecomposition.When it comes to whether the high-tech industry as a whole lags otherindustries in having a diverse workforce, 45% of respondents say yes, whileanother third at least partially agree. A quarter of respondents do not agree.Within this premise, there is a divide between white and non-white workers.Fifty-four percent of non-white workers say diversity in the high-tech worldfalls behind other industries, compared with 39% of white workers who feelsimilarly. Of non-white workers that agree, 22% do so strongly vs. 11% ofwhite employees. On an optimistic note, a majority of workers feel things arechanging in high tech, with 59% of all respondents saying the industry hasmade strides toward a more diverse workforce in recent years.# MYTH, PERCEPTION OR REALITY? TAKE 2Whether or not the high-tech industry employs a broadly diverse workforce –and by the numbers, it does not – the majority of workers in the ecosystemtoday see at least one major business benefit to diversity and inclusion:innovation. Sixty-four percent of respondents said they agree that anorganization with a heterogeneous employee base is more likely to produceworld-class innovation than one that is largely homogeneous in makeup. Another28% at least partially agree with that premise, while just 9% disagree.The near-consensus on diversity’s impact on innovation spans all segments ofthe survey sample, including small, medium and large organizations, all agegroups, genders, races and ethnicities. The only significant gap in thenumbers is just marginally different. Among those that agree generally withthe statement, 33% of non-whites said they “strongly agree,” compared to 23%of whites who did.What’s difficult to reconcile given this rosy view of innovation and diversityis the high percentage of respondents who also said it is a myth that thehigh-tech industry does not promote diversity. Many experts on the subjectdescribe this dichotomy in psychological terms; namely that diversity is an“empty word” in corporate America, meaning companies often talk a good game,hire diversity officers, develop diversity statements etc., but practicallyspeaking enact little change in the overall makeup of their workforce. In linewith that thinking, it is possible that study respondents’ agreement with this“diversity myth” statement constitutes a prime example of them giving theirindustry a perceived “A” for effort in an aspirational sense, but notrealizing actual results.One of the more curious findings in this data set relates to gender. Asked ifwomen and men are naturally inclined to succeed in roles that amplify theirgender traits, nearly half of respondents agreed, with another quarter sayingthey partially agreed. Along gender lines, unsurprisingly female respondentsagreed less with the premise (41%) than did their male counterparts (51%). Butthe real discrepancy occurs when the answers to the gender question aresegmented by job type. As shown in the chart to the left, amongexecutives/senior managers, 61% agreed with the statement about men and women,compared with 46% of middle managers, and 22% of staff-level workers.What accounts for this wide opinion gap? CompTIA cannot say definitively,though one possible reason so many executive-level respondents believe womenand men succeed more in roles that play to gender traits is that the vastmajority of senior managers in the high-tech industry are men. Women in hightech, who generally disagree more than men do with the gender statement, aremore likely to be working in positions in middle management or at the stafflevel, which could explain the disparity of the responses by job role.# DIVERSITY: INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCESBeyond gauging their general perceptions of the industry and their ownorganizations’ position and performance on workplace diversity, respondentswere also asked about their individual viewpoints and experiences at work.Most high-tech workers agree that a diverse workplace is to some degreedesirable, either mandated or encouraged by an organization. Breaking thatdown, 43% of respondents said they personally believe that workplace diversityis critical to have and that employers should mandate a mix of employees ofdifferent races, ethnicities, genders, ages, etc. An near-equal percentage ofhigh-tech respondents (44%) said that workplace diversity is nice to have,meaning organizations should actively encourage and promote it. In theminority, 13% said a diverse workforce is not necessary and that it ispreferable to hire people based on their ability to help reach strategic goalsversus a diversity objective.Among general business respondents from other industries, viewpoints onworkplace diversity hewed mostly to their counterparts’ in high tech, though ahigher percentage (48%) deemed workplace diversity critical to have. However,that five-point difference was balanced out by a slightly higher percentage ofgeneral business respondents (17%) that said a diverse workplace was notnecessary.Segmenting the data further reveals more differences between high-tech workersand those in other industries. There are also gaps between the opinions ofexecutive-level employees in high tech vs. staff level.At the executive-level job role, 59% of high-tech workers said they personallybelieve a diverse workplace is critical to have and should be anorganizational mandate. That compares with 49% of executives in the generalbusiness population. But at the staff level for these two groups, just 28% ofhigh-tech workers characterized diversity as critical to have vs. 48% of thosefrom the general business bucket.As the diversity conversation around the high-tech industry has swelled in thepast few years, executives and business owners have been under pressure toenact change in the form of more inclusive policies and hiring practices, andmore. As the leaders of their organizations, they are also expected to promotea diverse workplace as a strategic goal, which likely explains the highpercentage of them that believe the effort to be critical.As detailed above, staff-level general business workers deem diversity effortsmore critical than staffers in high tech. One possible reason? Because otherindustries tend to be more diverse in their rank and file workforce, they mayhave a better appreciation of the benefits gained from working in aheterogeneous environment – and therefore value it more.Diversity measures taken by high-tech businesses | Currently has | Plans toadd —|—|— Established hiring initiatives aimed at recruiting/retaining diverse workforce| 60% | 15% Focuses on team-level diversity/inclusion in work projects/company events |59% | 18% Creates “safe spaces” for employees to discuss diversity issues | 51% | 18% Sponsors/participates in diversity events | 44% | 21% Issues diversity report | 36% | 23% # DIVERSITY: INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES – TAKE 2In tough economic times, workers are more likely to hold onto the job theyhave even if they are unhappy with the culture, pay or lack of diversity amongtheir colleagues. That’s less the case today because of record-lowunemployment and high-demand for skilled labor in the high-tech industry.Workers now have greater leverage in choosing where to work or whether to stayin the job they currently hold.And for some who are unhappy with their company’s record on diversity, theyleave. Three in 10 non-white respondents said they have left a job in the lastyear because of diversity-related issues within their organization. Across thetotal high-tech sample, 23% said they had quit a job for diversity reasons,compared similarly with 20% of workers in the general business sample.Among the sizable percentage (77%) of high-tech workers who have never left ajob because of a problem with diversity, a portion aren’t ruling out thepossibility. Twenty-six percent of them said that they would leave a job ifconfronted with bias or other diversity/inclusion issues in the future. Thatpercentage spikes to 35% among non-white, high-tech respondents, compared with21% of the white sample. There’s also an age gap. Thirty-five percent of high-tech workers 20-to-34 years old said they’d leave a job due to a diversityissue, vs. 20% of high-tech employees 35-to-49 years old.That’s not entirely surprising given that younger workers haven’t yet settledfully into a career, tend to be willing to job hop, and may not yet havefinancial responsibilities that make it a difficult choice to leave a job forany reason. Then again, many do have loads of student debt to erase.Main reasons employees say they would leave a job 1. Pay inequity [52%] 2. Hostile work environment [46%] 3. Senior execs not supportive of diversity [42%] 4. Age discrimination [36%] 5. Culture not inclusive [35%] 6. Diversity efforts too much of a priority [30%] Why specifically do people quit a job over a diversity or bias issue?Respondents cited myriad tripwires, from pay inequity and age discriminationto fatigue with a company placing “too much emphasis” on its diversityinitiatives and efforts.Pay inequity resonates loudly with women, no surprise. Two-thirds of women inhigh tech said they would leave their job if they discovered pay imbalancesamong employees doing equal work. That compares with 44% of high-tech men whosaid the same. The tech industry sports some of the highest salaries in thecountry, which is one of the reasons it is such a popular field to enter. Butthe dirty little secret is that despite a higher salary benchmark than otherindustries, the pay gap between men and women in high tech exists nonetheless.Consider some findings from a survey done last year by salary database andjobs site Comparably. It found that in the tech-dominated metropolitan area ofSeattle, men earned an average of 30% more in base salary plus bonuses thanwomen. In Boston, another tech hub, the gap was 33%.The pay gap manifests in another way in the high-tech industry: promotions.For example, a report last year by non-profit professional association AscendFoundation found that Asian Americans were least likely of all races to reachmanagement-level or higher in the tech industry despite having more workers inthe industry than all other non-white races.Another obvious factor that would lead an employee to leave their job is ahostile work environment, which could run the gamut from a case of overtindividual harassment or something more systemic such as a culture that is notinclusive or is unknowingly biased in its decisions and policies.Surprisingly, age discrimination as a reason to quit drew equal percentagesfrom those aged 20 to 50 years.# DIVERSITY: INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCESBeyond gauging their general perceptions of the industry and their ownorganizations’ position and performance on workplace diversity, respondentswere also asked about their individual viewpoints and experiences at work.Most high-tech workers agree that a diverse workplace is to some degreedesirable, either mandated or encouraged by an organization. Breaking thatdown, 43% of respondents said they personally believe that workplace diversityis critical to have and that employers should mandate a mix of employees ofdifferent races, ethnicities, genders, ages, etc. An near-equal percentage ofhigh-tech respondents (44%) said that workplace diversity is nice to have,meaning organizations should actively encourage and promote it. In theminority, 13% said a diverse workforce is not necessary and that it ispreferable to hire people based on their ability to help reach strategic goalsversus a diversity objective.Among general business respondents from other industries, viewpoints onworkplace diversity hewed mostly to their counterparts’ in high tech, though ahigher percentage (48%) deemed workplace diversity critical to have. However,that five-point difference was balanced out by a slightly higher percentage ofgeneral business respondents (17%) that said a diverse workplace was notnecessary.Segmenting the data further reveals more differences between high-tech workersand those in other industries. There are also gaps between the opinions ofexecutive-level employees in high tech vs. staff level.At the executive-level job role, 59% of high-tech workers said they personallybelieve a diverse workplace is critical to have and should be anorganizational mandate. That compares with 49% of executives in the generalbusiness population. But at the staff level for these two groups, just 28% ofhigh-tech workers characterized diversity as critical to have vs. 48% of thosefrom the general business bucket.As the diversity conversation around the high-tech industry has swelled in thepast few years, executives and business owners have been under pressure toenact change in the form of more inclusive policies and hiring practices, andmore. As the leaders of their organizations, they are also expected to promotea diverse workplace as a strategic goal, which likely explains the highpercentage of them that believe the effort to be critical.As detailed above, staff-level general business workers deem diversity effortsmore critical than staffers in high tech. One possible reason? Because otherindustries tend to be more diverse in their rank and file workforce, they mayhave a better appreciation of the benefits gained from working in aheterogeneous environment – and therefore value it more.Diversity measures taken by high-tech businesses | Currently has | Plans toadd —|—|— Established hiring initiatives aimed at recruiting/retaining diverse workforce| 60% | 15% Focuses on team-level diversity/inclusion in work projects/company events |59% | 18% Creates “safe spaces” for employees to discuss diversity issues | 51% | 18% Sponsors/participates in diversity events | 44% | 21% Issues diversity report | 36% | 23% # DIVERSITY: INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES – TAKE 2In tough economic times, workers are more likely to hold onto the job theyhave even if they are unhappy with the culture, pay or lack of diversity amongtheir colleagues. That’s less the case today because of record-lowunemployment and high-demand for skilled labor in the high-tech industry.Workers now have greater leverage in choosing where to work or whether to stayin the job they currently hold.And for some who are unhappy with their company’s record on diversity, theyleave. Three in 10 non-white respondents said they have left a job in the lastyear because of diversity-related issues within their organization. Across thetotal high-tech sample, 23% said they had quit a job for diversity reasons,compared similarly with 20% of workers in the general business sample.Among the sizable percentage (77%) of high-tech workers who have never left ajob because of a problem with diversity, a portion aren’t ruling out thepossibility. Twenty-six percent of them said that they would leave a job ifconfronted with bias or other diversity/inclusion issues in the future. Thatpercentage spikes to 35% among non-white, high-tech respondents, compared with21% of the white sample. There’s also an age gap. Thirty-five percent of high-tech workers 20-to-34 years old said they’d leave a job due to a diversityissue, vs. 20% of high-tech employees 35-to-49 years old.That’s not entirely surprising given that younger workers haven’t yet settledfully into a career, tend to be willing to job hop, and may not yet havefinancial responsibilities that make it a difficult choice to leave a job forany reason. Then again, many do have loads of student debt to erase.Main reasons employees say they would leave a job 1. Pay inequity [52%] 2. Hostile work environment [46%] 3. Senior execs not supportive of diversity [42%] 4. Age discrimination [36%] 5. Culture not inclusive [35%] 6. Diversity efforts too much of a priority [30%] Why specifically do people quit a job over a diversity or bias issue?Respondents cited myriad tripwires, from pay inequity and age discriminationto fatigue with a company placing “too much emphasis” on its diversityinitiatives and efforts.Pay inequity resonates loudly with women, no surprise. Two-thirds of women inhigh tech said they would leave their job if they discovered pay imbalancesamong employees doing equal work. That compares with 44% of high-tech men whosaid the same. The tech industry sports some of the highest salaries in thecountry, which is one of the reasons it is such a popular field to enter. Butthe dirty little secret is that despite a higher salary benchmark than otherindustries, the pay gap between men and women in high tech exists nonetheless.Consider some findings from a survey done last year by salary database andjobs site Comparably. It found that in the tech-dominated metropolitan area ofSeattle, men earned an average of 30% more in base salary plus bonuses thanwomen. In Boston, another tech hub, the gap was 33%.The pay gap manifests in another way in the high-tech industry: promotions.For example, a report last year by non-profit professional association AscendFoundation found that Asian Americans were least likely of all races to reachmanagement-level or higher in the tech industry despite having more workers inthe industry than all other non-white races.Another obvious factor that would lead an employee to leave their job is ahostile work environment, which could run the gamut from a case of overtindividual harassment or something more systemic such as a culture that is notinclusive or is unknowingly biased in its decisions and policies.Surprisingly, age discrimination as a reason to quit drew equal percentagesfrom those aged 20 to 50 years.# Appendix# Research MethodologyThis quantitative study consisted of two online surveys fielded in October-November 2017. The first surveyed 400 U.S. IT and business professionalsemployed at high-tech firms, yielding an overall margin of sampling errorproxy at 95% confidence of +/- 4.9 percentage points. Sampling error is largerfor subgroups of the data. The second surveyed 200 business workers outsidethe high-tech industry, yielding an overall margin of sampling error proxy at95% confidence of +/- 9.8 percentage points.As with any survey, sampling error is only one source of possible error. Whilenon-sampling error cannot be accurately calculated, precautionary steps weretaken in all phases of the survey design, collection and processing of thedata to minimize its influence.CompTIA is responsible for all content and analysis. Any questions regardingthe study should be directed to CompTIA Research and Market Intelligence staffat [email protected] is a member of the market research industry’s Insights Association andadheres to its internationally respected Code of Standards.Read more about IT Workforce & Diversity, Industry Trends.