Job
Opportunities
for Blacks
CONTRIBUTION
Black college students
presently choosing fields such
as social sciences, home
economics, and education may
face better employment prospects if some will shift to other
majors.
A new report on manpower
and education forecasts more
favorable job opportunities for
black graduates in those fields
where job openings exceed the
overall supply of college graduates and in areas where blacks
are especially under-
represented.
Some fields meeting both of
those conditions include the
health specialties, engineering,
accounting, computer sciences,
public administration and
urban and regional planning,
according to Black College
Graduates and the Job Market
in the South, 1980, published
by the Southern Regional Education Board.
In health specialties, for
example, the bachelor's degree-
level fields show scant black
representation, while demand
in the South is estimated to
outstrip the supply of all graduates through 1980. Allied
health fields such as nursing,
therapy, hospital and health
care administration, as well as
the health professions (med
icine, dentistry, optometry,
veterinary medicine and podiatry), offer excellent
employment opportunities.
Black enrollment in business
and management has risen
sharply. This shift of black
students is a healthy trend
because of continuing black
under-representation in the
business sector, according to
the report.
Black women, traditionally
inclined toward the more
career-oriented studies, have
greater representation than
white women in what were
traditionally male-dominated
fields. Employment outlook
is favorable if black women
continue to choose disciplines
which show favorable job
markets, the study indicated.
On the other hand, teaching
is considered a high risk area
for future employment for all
races. Although there is an
oversupply of teachers, 40 percent of the bachelor's and
master's degrees earned by
blacks in 1973-74 were in
teacher education. This
compares to only 29 percent .
for all college graduates.
The SREB report also warns
of market saturation and diminishing opportunities for blacks
in overcrowded fields, even
though blacks are not highly
represented in some of them.
