Why would any young person not wearing an anorak seek a
career in IT? Traditionally the defining reasons for young people
embarking on any career have been three-fold: their excitement with
the subject, their academic inclination or ability, and the
encouragement of their parents.
Our first problem is that in the same way that I have never
wanted to be a car mechanic, but love driving, a very large
proportion of young people do not want to understand how computers
or software work.
They just want to use IT and they can get the performance they
want without any understanding of what goes on under the bonnet. If
you look at all the advertisements for IT products, they are strong
on the advantages of having the new technology, and very weak on
how that new technology works.
Next, we have a fundamental change in education over the past
few years. Education no longer challenges and stretches our
up-and-coming IT professionals. Schools allow pupils to choose soft
subjects that have no relevance to our industry.
This encouragement for young people to have a lazy route to
insignificant qualifications does not make them want to use and
challenge their brains. They therefore do not want to work in IT,
where they will have to understand, think, evaluate and innovate -
to name but a few of the skills required.
Finally there are the parents. Why on earth would they guide
their children to enter a profession that is constantly lambasted
in the press and is very likely the department within their own
enterprise that carries the least regard? Would you want your child
to carry the tag of "nerd"? Would you want your child to be part of
a disrespected, disregarded and much maligned industry? I don't
think so.
So what is the answer? We should return to the first principles
of education and rebuild the discipline of teaching and thought
that encourages youngsters to enjoy being challenged and sometimes
defeated.
Out of that will come the computer "mechanics" of the future,
who will be enthralled and excited by the subject and want to go
further with it in their education. This does, of course, assume
that our education system will offer academic qualifications at
least equal to the UK plc's competitors.
Finally, the industry must clean up its act. How can we expect
parents to encourage their offspring into an industry that they
neither trust or respect?
Parents see so many IT failures in the press on a daily basis.
We must find ways of capturing their interest and encouraging them
to feel that their children have a future in an essential and
respected industry.
We must promote an environment that not only delights our
children in the sort of day-to-day innovation that captures
customers, but also enthuses them to get involved in innovation for
the benefit of future generations. We must make "nerd" a term of
both respect and affection.
● Carolyn Kimber is chairman of the Communications
Management Association
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