University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, April 17, 1974
2
Job Opportunities Knock for Minorities and Women
By DEBBY SPRUK
"Minorities and women are encouraged to apply."
That phrase is appearing more and more often, reflecting efforts by employers to emphasize antidiscriminatory hiring practices.
Placement officials and personnel officers agree that minority and women applicants are very much in demand. The large number of counties are tremendous, they said recently.
The emphasis, according to Darryl Bright, assistant to the director of minority affairs, is on applicants with specialized skills in specific areas and professions.
Charles Lockhart, Chicago junior and president of Student Council for Recruiting, Motivating and Educating Black Engineers (SCORMEB), said, "The job outlook for minority engineering students is fantastic right now.
"ONE MEMBER OF the organization, who will graduate this May, has all kinds of offers. He's trying to decide now which company he wants to work for."
With the many opportunities available to minority applicants, prospective employers say they wonder whether there will be enough qualified college graduates to meet the demand.
In 1970 only one per cent of the national graduating class of engineers was black, according to a pamphlet published by COFMeBE. Because of this deficiency the
organization was founded to ensure that more minority engineers would graduate from the University of Kansas. The organization provides counseling, tutoring, summer programs and financial assistance for students in engineering, Lockhart said.
SCORMEB also has a recruitment program to encourage high school minority students to attend KU's engineering school, be said.
THE PROGRAM HAS been rated one of the top five of its kind in the nation by Dewey, a prestigious university.
A summer job program, he said, allows students to gain practical experience in engineering and to see what work in the business world is like.
"We have students working all over the U.S. in the summer," he said, "No one in SCoMKMEB has had trouble finding a job for a graduate, quite a demand for this type of program."
The companies that cooperate with SCoRMEBE rate the students' performances and send copies of that rating to KU.
"There is no commitment, but many of the employers help the students will consider going to work for their companies when they graduate." he said.
CLASSES ARE OFFERED in math, chemistry and physics, he said, and lectures and demonstrations are presented to new students with the engineering profession.
SCORMEBE has summer programs for incoming KFU students to alleviate some of the deficiencies most minority students have come to the University, Lockhart said.
The program gives presentations to companies throughout the United States to explain its purpose. All funds for scholarships are received from donations from businesses and are distributed with the KU financial aid office, Lockhart said.
Donations have been received from such organizations as General Foods, IBM, Honeywell, the Ford Foundation, Continental Oil Co., Atlantic Richfield, Western Electric, Exxon U.S.A., Foundation, Mobile Foundation, Inc. and Petroleum Petroleum.
In the fall of 1976 six black students were enrolled in KU's engineering school. In 1973, 50 minority students were enrolled. Approximately 30, including four women, belonged to SCrMMEBE. Eight per cent of them were enrolled with much higher than the all-University percentage of 3 per cent, according to statistics gathered by SCrMMEBE.
THE OTHER OF Minority Affairs is also
BUSINESS GRAD.
Pre-released prisoners program in
pre-release prison, April
Personnel) Administration training.
Other programs available. Seniors-
interview. Placement Office. April
KANSAS UNIVERSITY 54TH ANNUAL ENGINEERING EXPOSITION
tired of doing the same old thing?
concerned with recruiting minority students to KU, according to Bright.
HELP NAME THE WESCOE HALL CONCESSION AREA!
Your entry must include your name & address.
The Kansas Union is giving you, a University of Kansas Student, Faculty or Staff Member, a chance to win $25 worth of merchandise from the Union Bookstores if your entry is chosen.
Entry boxes will be in the Wescoe Concession Area and in the lobby of the Kansas Union. The deadline for all entries is Friday, April 19, 5 p.m.
"There's a tendency to be afraid you'll be lost in the shuffle of 18,000 students," he said. "It's nice to think someone in the administration is looking for minor student interests. It lessens the cultural shock to know someone cares."
There are few women and minority students in the School of Business, according to Pam Buras, substitute chairman of the business school placement bureau, but she doesn't believe the field even though the school itself does not have a specific program for recruitment.
The School of Education has encouraged minority students to enter faculty positions within the school, Evelyn Swartz, professor of education, said.
"THEER ARENT MANY minority students in the school now," she said, "but their numbers have been constantly increasing over the years."
"YOU CAN TELL in an interview if the company is looking for someone to fulfill a window dressing role, and graduates shy away from that type of job offer," he said. "They want to work somewhere where they can contribute something to the job."
With the emphasis by business to hire
within and women graduates, some
people fear an overreaction by business or
reverse discrimination.
important requirement."
Lockhart said businesses were looking for minorities but they weren't being hired as token figures any more because the applicants were qualified for the positions if they were hired.
According to Darwin Eads, assistant to the director of financial aid, the trend is toward finding women applicants rather than minority students to fill vacancies.
Stirley Gilham, director of affirmative action at KU, said there was a general commitment throughout the University to give everyone the same chance for jobs.
"We realize the danger of reverse discrimination and guard against it," she said. "To move from one discrimination to another is not progress."
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