This is an opinion piece by a Hilltop columnist.
Many students assume quantum computing requires a graduate degree, but the data and the International Business Machines (IBM) HBCU Quantum Center say otherwise.
The data often points to the idea that you need a doctoral degree in physics to work in it, but according to a Chicago Quantum Exchange analysis of more than 5,000 job postings from 2022 and 2023 — 55% of quantum jobs required a bachelor’s degree or less.
Students and aspiring professionals interested in entering the industry should familiarize themselves with the opportunities available and the skills needed to pursue them.
The quantum industry’s greatest challenge may not be a lack of talent, but a lack of public awareness.
The National Quantum Initiative Act being signed into law in 2018, resulted in a major push for quantum research and development. In May, the Commerce Department signed letters of intent to provide more than $2 billion in incentives to nine quantum computing companies, including $1 billion for IBM to set up a quantum chip foundry.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the investments would create thousands of high-paying American jobs, according to the department’s announcement.
But billions in federal investment mean little if the benefits remain concentrated among institutions and communities that have historically had greater access to scientific funding and research opportunities. Black researchers and minority-serving institutions remain underrepresented in STEM research and are often left out of the resources needed to compete in emerging fields.
Expanding access requires more than funding major technology companies; it requires investing in spaces where Black scholars can conduct research, develop expertise and help shape the future of the industry.
Howard University’s Center for Quantum Information is an example of why these institutions matter. As quantum technology advances, universities like Howard must be treated as essential contributors to America’s research infrastructure, not peripheral participants.
The IBM HBCU Quantum Center is a partnership between IBM and a group of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU), led by Howard University. It prepares students for careers in quantum by giving them cloud access to IBM’s quantum computers through Qiskit, an IBM software, and by funding student research and projects.
Kayla Lee, Ph.D., an IBM executive and Hampton University alumna, founded the HBCU Quantum Center in 2020 alongside 13 HBCUs. Initially directed by former Howard professor and Morehouse College alumnus, Thomas Searles, Ph.D., the center has since expanded to 24 member institutions, providing students with access to IBM quantum computers and funding for undergraduate and graduate research.
HBCUs received a disproportionately small share of the initial federal funding for quantum research centers.
Howard received $1 million of the $625 million, and no other HBCU received any funding, according to a research paper published by Lee and Searles. By comparison, Northwestern University, a predominantly white institution, was slated to receive $18 million according to the university.
If quantum computing is going to become a major part of the American economy, HBCUs cannot simply be invited into the conversation after the largest investments have already been made. As Shirley Chisholm famously put it, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
The IBM HBCU Quantum Center represents one way of doing just that: creating opportunities for students to participate in an industry where their institutions have historically been underrepresented.
Michaela Amoo, a Howard alumna and former electrical engineering professor, helped lead the university’s Quantum Center before her death in 2022. Her computer engineering students, despite limited prior knowledge of quantum computing, used IBM’s Qiskit software to build quantum versions of chess and tic-tac-toe to test machine learning algorithms, overcoming conceptual barriers in quantum mechanics.
Their work challenges the assumption that students must arrive with extensive knowledge of quantum mechanics to contribute to the field. Sometimes, the biggest obstacle is not a lack of intellectual ability but a lack of access to the tools and experiences that allow students to develop it.
In an IBM Research interview, Amoo explained that establishing a traditional atomic, molecular and optical physics lab could cost between $500,000 and $1 million. IBM’s cloud platform offers a more accessible alternative, allowing students to access quantum hardware directly from their computers.
What we shouldn’t miss is that these students weren’t doctoral candidates; they were undergraduates with a foundation in engineering and computing who were given access. Even then, many of the skills necessary to work in quantum computing, including coding, working with circuits and etching wafers, can be learned in entirely different disciplines.
Ordinary people have found their way into the industry through skills and experiences they gained in entirely different fields.
Marie Grubb, for example, was a supermarket cake decorator before applying for a technician job at Infleqtion, a quantum technology company, where she spent seven years as lead technician, according to the Chicago Quantum Exchange.
Aaron Miller, founder and president of Quantum Opus, said he has hired jewelry makers because they can “laser weld under a microscope.” In both cases, there is more to the industry than understanding how quantum mechanics works.
We often think of technological innovation as something reserved for people with highly specialized academic backgrounds. But these examples demonstrate that skills developed outside traditional STEM pathways can also have a place in emerging industries. The question is not simply who understands quantum mechanics, but who has been given the opportunity to apply what they already know.
Working in this industry adjacent to quantum computing, I assumed the barrier to entry was much higher than it turned out to be. It wasn’t that the material was necessarily easy or difficult to learn; it was simply unfamiliar, something I had never been exposed to before.
What keeps minority communities away from fields like quantum is the perceived difficulty, which is often just unfamiliarity.
We have only recently begun running this race, and we have not yet been shown how to navigate every hurdle along the way. This is why exposure to quantum can work wonders, especially when it comes to subjects that initially seem impossible to understand.
It begins with recognizing the equality of our intellectual potential and understanding that, with the right opportunities and resources, no hurdle is insurmountable. With quantum computing, those resources exist, and the late Amoo and her students showed how to make use of them.
These opportunities, however, are not guaranteed to last.
IBM initially projected a five-year timeline for the center in 2020. Although the program remains active, its long-term future is uncertain. Its continued success will depend on sustained investment, institutional support and student access to the resources needed to explore quantum computing.
Access to emerging technologies should not depend on the longevity of a single corporate partnership. If universities and policymakers are serious about expanding opportunities in quantum computing, they must ensure that programs like the IBM HBCU Quantum Center receive sustained investment. Exposure cannot be a temporary introduction to an industry that will continue shaping the future.
Copy edited by Jori Johnson
