At AT&T; in the mid 80’s, we were already competing for business and residential customers. A product development work force composed exclusively of white males was simply not going to be as effective as a design team more reflective of the marketplace. Employment equity was more than just the right thing to do from a legal perspective; employment equity was good business.
Unfortunately, recent data indicates that engineering and technology disciplines have again fallen out of favour among some affected classes and are not producing sufficiently diverse candidates for employment.
At a meeting this past Monday, the comments of participants were off the record. For that reason, I won’t attribute the following, unless I get permission to the contrary. Let me simply note that one of the telecom technology companies indicated that they were working in the lower grades to try to stimulate the pool of students interested in Math, Science and Engineering. Other companies have similar initiatives.
This morning, the Ontario Science Centre is opening TELUSCAPE, a new outdoor exploration plaza. “Where trees light up, a fountain plays music and windmills create colour. Where visitors are encouraged to question everything.”
Let’s hope that these acts of corporate citizenship stimulate a new pool of kids to ask good questions and join the search for answers as they get older.
It’s not just the right thing to do. It’s good for business.
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TELUS, Bell Labs, Ontario Science Centre, TELUSCAPE, Mark Goldberg