PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2019

The Future of Higher Education Information Technology: Women and Minorities in the Pipeline

A recent report from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), Diversity in Higher Education Information Technology: From Today’s Workforce to Tomorrow’s Leaders, highlights the need for higher education IT to address the critical issues of improving diversity, equity and inclusion, and to plan for the future of leadership.

According to the report, information technology in higher ed remains an overwhelmingly White (81 percent) and male (74 percent) field. Intersectional diversity is extremely limited; for instance, only 3 percent of IT administrators are minority females. The representation of women and racial/ethnic minorities in higher ed IT is much lower than among college students, the primary constituent population they serve.

The data also show that around 43 percent of IT administrators in higher education are over 55 years old, and 39 percent of IT administrators have been in their current roles for more than 10 years. As older employees near retirement, institutions looking to recruit diverse future leaders may not have to look far. Data indicate that certain positions in the immediate higher education IT pipeline have higher representation for women and/or individuals from certain racial/ethnic groups. It is important for decision-makers to use data like these to know where to look for these qualified women and minorities to create a more diverse future generation of IT leaders.

This research brief provides a snapshot of diversity and pay equity in higher education IT, a look at the aging of IT administrators, and the characteristics of possible pipeline positions from data collected in the 2018 CUPA-HR Administrators in Higher Education, Professionals in Higher Education, and Staff in Higher Education surveys.

About CUPA-HR

CUPA-HR is the recognized authority on compensation surveys for higher education, with its salary surveys designed by higher ed HR professionals for higher ed HR professionals and other campus leaders. Learn more about CUPA-HR research.

CUPA-HR is higher ed HR. We serve higher education by providing the knowledge, resources, advocacy and connections to achieve organizational and workforce excellence. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, and serving over 31,000 HR professionals and other campus leaders at more than 2,000 member institutions and organizations around the country and abroad, the association offers learning and professional development programs, higher education salary and benefits data, extensive online resources and just-in-time regulatory and legislative information.

Contact Information
Erin Rosolina
Marketing Manager – Communications and Marketing
[email protected]