The UK IT industry is in "grave danger" of losing its top-ranking
position in higher education and research, due to poor pay and
working conditions in universities. So says a briefing document for
MPs by BCS chief executive Judith Scott, who fears that the impact
could be felt for decades, writes John Kavanagh.
"In the second half of the 20th century the UK was a leading
researcher and educator of well-qualified IT professionals," says
the briefing document, entitled Academic Crisis in Computing. "This
enabled the UK to develop a thriving high-tech sector and
traditional businesses that applied technology for competitive
advantage."
But it continues, "We are in grave danger of losing our competitive
edge. Changes over the last five years in higher education,
together with the enormous explosion in demand for skilled IT
staff, has created a looming crisis in higher education computing
departments, the effect of which may be felt for many
decades."
IT graduates can now start on salaries similar to those of their
senior lecturers. In addition, because of the job prospects more
people are starting IT degrees. This increases the demands made on
teachers and resources.
But while universities are attracting more students, they are
becoming increasingly unattractive as places of employment.
"All departments report difficulty in recruiting PhD students. Some
departments have vacancies unfilled for months, if not years. There
is worrying concern that the vast majority of computing academics
are over 40.
"The proportion of appointments from outside the European Union is
reported to be rising, compounding the demands on those responsible
for research programmes. Filling teaching posts with people whose
knowledge of English is limited further depresses quality."
The impact of all this is spelled out in no uncertain terms. "We
are no longer developing academics who will be the underpinning of
the UK economy, providing valuable research and competent
teaching," says the briefing.
"If this is allowed to continue, the UK will be starved of new
ideas and its thriving high-tech sector will wither.
"Teaching quality will decline. Word will get out at school level,
and the brightest students will avoid computing. Graduates are
likely to be of poorer quality, and the teaching will fall short of
that in other Western democracies. Already there is some evidence
of this trend, with many companies outsourcing work to India, for
example, where there are good academic standards and labour is
comparatively cheap."
The briefing concludes, "This cannot be ignored: the risks are far
too great. In 20 years we could have computing departments with no
staff.
"It is too late to avoid all the problems, but the longer we leave
it, the harder it will be to solve them. The UK risks throwing away
its essential IT capacity."