Mike Coslo ) writes:
Dave wrote:

What has the ARRL done to encourage minorities to take up
ham radio as a hobby? What do ham radio clubs do to
promote ham radio among minorities?
It's an interesting question, Dave. I think that the best thing we can
do is to provide a supportive environment for everyone.

There is an ongoing effort to recruit underrepresented groups to the
engineering fields. There are very few female engineers and few that are
in college. This despite lots of effort to recruit. There has been some
limited success in recruiting people of African descent.

I suspect that Engineering will take a while to be more representative
from a ethnic standpoint. I do believe it will eventually get there. And
as more minorities are involved in technical matters, more will be
interested in technical hobbies like the ARS.

But you may have this in reverse. If people aren't playing with amateur
radio as kids, then they may not become interested in technical professions.

Some people grumble that amateur radio doesn't represent leading edge
technology anymore. But I still think there is value as a stepping stone.
If kids take up the hobby, and then pursue technical fields (or even
just feel comfortable around technical matters) it still has value to
society in general.

The value of amateur radio may be where it leads, rather than being
something that attracts people who are already somewhere.

Michael VE2BVW

As to gender representation, I have noted that not many women *want* to
be engineers. I would also note that the women engineers that I know
absolutely HATE being called a "woman engineer". One I know sums it up
as "I can't stand it when people call me a woman engineer. I'm an
engineer dammit!" So the typical recruitment efforts may indeed backfire
when applied to potential engineers, at least of the female variety.

Why would a person
of color want to become a ham radio operator?

Because it is fun. Same reason as for everyone.

- Mike KB3EIA -