Pittsburgh's creative class hampered by a lack of diversity (Lebanon: unemployment rate, gated)

[EveKendall]

Originally Posted by pghdude28

The ones that want to stay end up leaving after graduation due to limited job opportunities. The ones that do land jobs are usually here temporarily. After age 25-26, they begin to look elsewhere and often end up leaving. If you're a Pitt student who grew up in say Philly, you usually end up leaving after graduation as well. I can remember clearly a quote from one of my friends at Pitt who grew up in NJ - "I only stay in Oakland and don't care about the rest. Confusing roads, run-down, and rains every day. Who would want to live in Pittsburgh?" That sentiment was expressed by many out-of-towers as well.

Not my students! We are in an industry where there are a lot of jobs, though. Roughly 85% of our graduate students are employed withing six months of graduating, and around 65% are in this region. I think your numbers are outdated.
Some of you need to pay attention to more recent data, not look at 2000 (or earlier).
And pghdude, aren't you yourself in your late 20's and still here? And don't you have a good job (I believe you have cited that as a reason you do not move away)?

[The King of Um]

Pittsburgh is a diverse place, but some people obsess about statistics and comparisons with other cities. In this case, comparisons are odious. Just take a walk on any street Downtown, and you'll experience the diversity of age, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, intelligence, educational attainment, and socioeconomic status. You'll no doubt encounter people all across the spectrum on these variables. You'll likely come across people from just about every background imaginable, who hold diverse beliefs, who see the world very differently.

[DaisyDaisy]

Here's some people, many younger, diverse, and/or transplants, enjoying working, living and recreation in the region... ImaginePittsburgh.com : Meet the Neighbors

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by pghdude28

The ones that want to stay end up leaving after graduation due to limited job opportunities. The ones that do land jobs are usually here temporarily. After age 25-26, they begin to look elsewhere and often end up leaving. If you're a Pitt student who grew up in say Philly, you usually end up leaving after graduation as well. I can remember clearly a quote from one of my friends at Pitt who grew up in NJ - "I only stay in Oakland and don't care about the rest. Confusing roads, run-down, and rains every day. Who would want to live in Pittsburgh?" That sentiment was expressed by many out-of-towers as well.

Most of my non-PGH friends loved the city as much as I (also a non-PGH native--from suburban Philly, in fact) do. We also ventured lots of places beyond Oakland, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, and the South Side because, well, we were intellectual-minded people with a sense of curiosity and adventure. Your apocryphal friend sounds like a prototypical beer-swigging frat boy meathead, which, to be fair, there are a number of at Pitt. Oh well, there has to be a bottom quarter to balance out the top quarter . That isn't to say that there aren't valid reasons for disliking Pittsburgh--it, like any other place, is not for everybody--but someone who puts forth that sort of rationale clearly never gave the city a chance in the first place.

I didn't apply for any jobs as a senior because I went straight on to law school, so I can't say whether I would have successfully found gainful employment in PGH as a newly minted college graduate. I can say that I was unable to get a summer associateship in PGH (which I would have been open to taking if it had been on par with or better than my Philly offer) but mid/big law is a relatively niche field whose hiring process doesn't compare well to most other types of work (big finance, big accounting, high-level corporate consulting is fairly similar and probably not well-represented in the 'Burgh either). For those sorts of firms, even Philadelphia, Boston, and LA are considered "secondary markets."

I might have an opportunity to switch jobs in late 2015/early 2016, and if/when that comes, I'd be extremely open to returning to Pittsburgh for a position at a firm like Reed Smith, K&L Gates, or Jones Day (just to name a few).

[zman63]

Originally Posted by Caladium

??????? As far as company expansion goes, I think you're giving diversity a lot more power than it deserves. Most companies have numerous factors they consider for choosing whether or not to expand in a city. And all of them have to do with making money. Diversity? Not high on the list, if it even makes the list at all, IMO

What part of this article or other studies do you not understand? Pittsburgh tech council has openly acknowledged that businesses have wanted to expand here but said they are unable to. They said it is due to the inability to find diverse candidates in pittsburgh. They want to have a pittsburgh workforce that mirrors other markets national and international. There arent diverse people her nor do people want to take a huge paycut to come to a city with bloated rents and housing prices. That is reality....

My relative moved from pitt to philly. His wife is from eastern pa. They were looking to come back. She had an interview and job offer with a big local company. She declined the offer. The lack of diversity turned her off. She is a white female and did not feel comfy working in an old white boys network. They told her we do things different here in pittsburgh.

[BarqCider]

Originally Posted by EveKendall

I am not sure who 'you guys ' is referring to in your post, but I wonder if this is still true. Certainly the undergraduate and graduate students I work with at Pitt usually want to sty in the area. More and more these students are coming from other parts of the country and then want to stay here (so it isn't just locals who want to stay).
I think the 'Brain Drain' phenomenon is on the way out.
And the median age declined between 2000 and 2010 (from 35 to 33).

I guess im one of the few who would like to stay, but given lack of entry positions within my concentration/major, I think ill be forced to move where the IT industry is bigger, or at least have grown enough where I have a better chance of.

who knows. i'll have to give it time and let the cards sort themselves out, but right now its not looking remotely good (even looking for internships is hard, given most want analysts or programmers)

[BarqCider]

Originally Posted by EveKendall

Not my students! We are in an industry where there are a lot of jobs, though. Roughly 85% of our graduate students are employed withing six months of graduating, and around 65% are in this region. I think your numbers are outdated.
Some of you need to pay attention to more recent data, not look at 2000 (or earlier).
And pghdude, aren't you yourself in your late 20's and still here? And don't you have a good job (I believe you have cited that as a reason you do not move away)?

you said you work for pitt...great, but what? 85% of what majors? throwing out numbers and no say in what can be nice if not given in proper context.

for all I know, you teach in the medical school so that 85% is just avg. or you can be teaching political science/psychology/history and that 85% would come off as extraordinary, until you micro analyze it and determine if that 85% is just a cover for said employed grads who are underemployed.

[gortonator]

Originally Posted by UKyank

And there shouldn't be anything "wrong" with that. Whether a place is 1% Latino or 100% Latino (and isn't either one because of discrimination practices) shouldn't make it any better or worse then any place else.
Silly Americans.

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Diversity: making white people feel better about themselves since the mid 2000's.

Amen, brothers. Why people bang on about this subject is beyond me.

And our little Pittsburgh CD ecosystem has lots of ethnic diversity - Aussies, Brits, Hispanics, Italians, no doubt others I dunno about, and 2 trolls. What more could you ask for

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by zman63

What part of this article or other studies do you not understand?

Oh, foolish me. Obviously, if someone wrote something in an article it must be true.

[zman63]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Oh, foolish me. Obviously, if someone wrote something in an article it must be true.

And you don't even live here?

Teaming up to bring more diversity to Pittsburgh's workforce - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh's Future: Lack of Diversity is Hurting the Region

Pittsblog: Putting Pittsburgh Demographics in Perspective

#1 - Pittsburgh, PA | These 30 U.S. metropolitan areas are the least diverse in the country | Deseret News