Born in the USA. It's not only a Bruce Springsteen classic, but the American IT workforce, too,

Nine of 10 members of America's IT workforce were born in either the United States or Canada, according to research conducted by CompTIA, a computer industry trade group. Only 3 percent of IT pros were born in India, 2 percent each in Western Europe and Latin America and 1 percent each in China and Eastern Europe/Russia.

That's not far off from the 88 percent native born Americans counted by the Bureau of Census.

Among those IT managers and staffers surveyed, 73 percent say they're white, 10 percent African-American and 17 percent others. These figures closely mirror the 2000 census, in which the government classified 75 percent of the population as white,12 percent African-American and nearly 4 percent Asian.

Where the IT profession doesn't look much like the rest of America is in its politics. Thirty-five percent of CompTIA respondents called themselves Republicans vs. 26 percent as Democrats. That's a complete flip from the country as a whole, where 36 percent are registered Democrats and 27 percent are registered Republicans, according to an article in USA Today.

Another way IT pros are different is in income; they're richer. Though not directly comparable, half of all IT workers earn over $80,000 a year vs. the medium household income in the U.S. of just over $43,000 annually. Nearly one-third of CompTIA respondents earned more than $100,000 a year; 22 percent, between $80,000 and $100,000; 26 percent, $40,000 to $80,000; and 13 percent, under $40,000.

Not surprisingly, IT workers are more educated. Ninety-two percent attended college and 71 percent hold bachelor or advance degrees. In the overall population, 53 percent attended college and 27 percent hold bachelor or advance degrees.

The biggest difference is gender. Women age 25 or older comprise 52 percent of the U.S. population but represent only 23 percent of the IT workforce. And, those female IT workers view the cirtical issues facing the country in a different light than their male counterparts (see The New IT Gender Gap).

The CompTIA results come from a report, IT Workers and the 2008 Elections, based on a survey the trade group conducted last summer of 600 IT professionals about their views on critical issues facing the nation.