Insights

Unconscious bias during the hiring process is a real threat to building a more diverse and inclusive workforce. That’s because unchecked biases in both human and technology-assisted decision-making can disproportionately hurt underrepresented groups. In an effort to help employers combat bias in hiring, we are committed to ensuring our products limit both human and algorithmic bias to the greatest extent possible.

Of the approximately 97,000 computer science degrees awarded every year, only around 9% are received by Black students. Historically Black Colleges and Universities make up a large portion of the schools graduating black students in the sciences, with 25% of African American graduates with STEM degrees coming from HBCUs. There are 107 HBCUs in the country that all create a strong community between students and faculty, provide a high quality education for an affordable price, and engage an ongoing alumni network. Incorporating these schools into your campus recruiting strategy is a great way to expand your talent pipeline, and find standout students in CS. We’ve rounded up 10 HBCUs with strong computer science programs to focus your efforts on, whether you're visiting a career fair, hosting your own virtual event and inviting students, or sourcing from these schools. For even more lists and recommendations for Historically Black Colleges and Universities to visit, download our full 'Recruiting at HBCUs' guide here! And to strengthen your strategy of connecting with HBCUs, learn more about RippleMatch's student network and automated sourcing technology here.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are a great resource for finding talented college graduates. Today, these schools are responsible for 22% of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Black graduates overall, and 25% of STEM degrees awarded to Black graduates. For companies recruiting for entry-level STEM roles, HBCUs offer thousands of bright and qualified candidates, especially HBCUs with strong and highly-ranked STEM programs. To help you recruit top technical candidates and ensure you have a diverse pipeline, we’ve rounded up 10 HBCUs with the best STEM programs to focus your campus recruiting efforts on. Here are the schools that made our list:

If you’re looking for talented candidates to fill your business-focused roles, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are a great place to look. HBCUs make up around 20% of all degrees awarded to Black graduates every year, and are particularly helpful for preparing students for the workforce. One survey found that 55% of students who attended HBCUs felt they were adequately prepared for life after graduation, compared to 30% of students who attended non-HBCUs. For business preparedness specifically, HBCUs produce more African-American & Black CPAs and Wall Street associates than any other non-HBCU institutions. With all this considered, any company hoping to fill a role that requires business competencies should include HBCUs in their search. These 10 HBCUs have especially strong business programs and are a great place to look:

Liberal arts cover a broad scope of disciplines, encompassing many programs such as English, social sciences, art, philosophy, or simply liberal arts studies. These interdisciplinary degrees prepare students for a wide variety of careers and provide them with a strong skill set in areas like communication, leadership, and problem-solving. Students pursuing liberal arts at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) experience a unique combination of strong community and challenging academics — readying them to be standout candidates in the job field. Liberal arts students at HBCUs will be prepared for a diverse set of roles across multiple industries, meaning they’re a great resource for any recruiting strategy. We’ve rounded up 10 top HBCUs for liberal arts for some inspiration on where to find excellent talent.

Despite accounting for around half of the employed U.S. workforce, women today make up only about one third (34%) of the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Entry-level recruiters and their companies can play a pivotal role in inviting more promising female talent into STEM and providing opportunities for advancement and success throughout their careers. One way to do so is to partner with professional organizations aimed at supporting women in these high-demand fields. By connecting with these organizations, companies today can gain access to a diverse and untapped candidate pool, attend recruitment events and job fairs, and sponsor events to demonstrate their commitment to D&I.

If the goal of your recruiting strategy is to find the best entry-level and early-career talent at colleges across the country, it’s essential to include Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on your list of target schools. HBCUs were originally established with the goal of educating Black Americans who were denied access to higher education institutions prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but today, they still hold an important place in higher education. HBCUs combined enroll hundreds of thousands of college students – primarily Black college students, though 25% of HBCU students are either white, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Native American – and offer their own unique experience and culture. Additionally, around 25% of Black students earn science and engineering bachelor’s degrees at HBCUs and HBCUs account for approximately 20% of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Black graduates.

Having good data to power decision-making is more important now than ever — especially in the field of talent acquisition. That’s because even though top companies might be continuing to hire entry-level candidates and interns in 2023, the uncertain macroeconomy is causing early career recruitment teams to shift their priorities and refocus on high-impact efforts. And it takes data to understand what exactly those efforts should be. The benefit of collecting the right data to showcase the ROI of your team’s recruitment efforts is twofold; it will help you make the case to leadership for why early career is a good investment, and, with the pressure on leaner teams to do more with less, it will help you focus on the strategies that are actually working. But where do you begin?

Internship programs are a highly cost-effective method for recruiting full-time talent — which is especially crucial during an economic downturn like the one we are currently experiencing. In fact, recent employment data shows that internship programs serve as strong pipeline of talent for entry-level roles, with 75.5% of interns from 2020-21 returning to work at their company full-time. Plus, interns are more likely than non-interns to stick around, saving you in recruiting and onboarding costs. The data shows that the 1-year retention rate for interns turned full-timers is nearly 70%, compared to 36% of non-interns, and the 5-year retention rate for interns turned full-timers is nearly 41.5%, compared to 26% of non-interns. But how do you take a step back and source your new cohort of interns in a cost-effective way, as well? Try incorporating some of these strategies below into your next recruitment cycle.