Jobs in computer science (CS) and information technology (IT) are projected to grow faster than average in coming years, but it is not always clear how states can strengthen their CS and IT workforces. Using Ohio as a case study, the authors of this report offer suggestions to state leaders across the United States who are interested in growing and diversifying their CS and IT workforces.

Growing the Computer Science and Information Technology Workforces in Ohio

Megan Andrew, Jonah Kushner, Lucas Greer, Christine Mulhern, Jenna W. Kramer, Daniel Schwam

ResearchPublished Dec 9, 2024

Many states, including Ohio, intend to strengthen and grow their computer science (CS) and information technology (IT) workforces. Jobs in CS and IT are projected to grow in coming years, but it is not always clear how states can expand and diversify their CS and IT workforces.

In this report, the authors leverage representative national and state survey data, detailed state administrative data, and focus group data to evaluate how Ohio residents obtain postsecondary CS and IT education, their wages on completion of this education, and factors that facilitate or impede their education and employment in CS and IT. In doing so, the authors aim to help pinpoint ways that Ohio might grow its CS and IT workforces. They also offer suggestions on how state leaders across the United States can grow and diversify these workforces.

Key Findings

  • As in much of the United States, a very small percentage share of Ohio residents study and work in CS and IT.
  • Female students, Black and Hispanic students, and students 25 years and older face many of the same disadvantages in CS and IT education in Ohio that these populations face nationally.
  • Female students in Ohio face early disadvantages in CS and IT course-taking and programs of study (compared with male students and regardless of type of institution).
  • Black and Hispanic students who start at two-year institutions in Ohio face persistent disadvantages in CS and IT postsecondary education.
  • Students 25 years and older are less likely than younger students to complete CS and IT bachelor's degrees.
  • Average CS wages are lower in Ohio than in the rest of the United States, even after differences in cost of living are taken into account.
  • Individual wage returns are generally nil for short-term certificates in CS and IT. Wage returns are somewhat larger for associate's degrees in CS and IT than for long-term certificates and are largest for IT and especially CS bachelor's degrees.
  • Female, Black and Hispanic, and older students receive lower wages for IT and CS bachelor's degrees.
  • Personal connections are important for entering and completing CS and IT postsecondary education and finding CS and IT employment.
  • Conversely, superficial connections between institutions and employers limit Ohio students' knowledge about CS and IT employer preferences and direct access to CS and IT employment in Ohio.

Recommendations

  • Ohio needs to continue to develop its institutions of higher education (IHEs) as key providers of health and social services by braiding funding from different state and federal sources.
  • To diversify and strengthen its CS and IT workforces, Ohio might consider programming to provide instructors, mentors, and peer groups in CS and IT from underrepresented demographic groups.
  • Ohio might also strengthen and diversify its CS and IT workforces by integrating CS and IT learning into other programs of study and by creating pathways from IT into CS.
  • Ohio needs to have strong and effective guidelines in place to help ensure the quality of especially online CS and IT education.
  • Some Ohio employers and IHEs have developed innovative earn-and-learn programs to support new CS and IT workers in their education and to provide them with critical early work experience. Existing Ohio programs of this kind are relatively unique but can be scaled in different ways and forms across the state.

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RAND Style Manual

Andrew, Megan, Jonah Kushner, Lucas Greer, Christine Mulhern, Jenna W. Kramer, and Daniel Schwam, Growing the Computer Science and Information Technology Workforces in Ohio, RAND Corporation, RR-A3449-1, 2024. As of May 1, 2025: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3449-1.html

Chicago Manual of Style

Andrew, Megan, Jonah Kushner, Lucas Greer, Christine Mulhern, Jenna W. Kramer, and Daniel Schwam, Growing the Computer Science and Information Technology Workforces in Ohio. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3449-1.html.
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This study was sponsored by the ECMC Foundation and conducted by RAND Education and Labor.

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