Young guns at the BCS
- Posted:
- 12:51 12 Jul 2001
Edward Wolton, chairman of the British Computer Society Young Professionals' Group (YPG), is a man with a mission. He's been charged with freshening up the image of the group to attract more members. "If I'm upsetting the old-fashioned elements of the society, then I'm doing my job," he says.
Wolton is 24 and chairman of one of the BCS' largest and possibly most important groups. The YPG represents emerging IT professionals, the young workers that the industry can't afford to lose. He admits, "I do have the reputation of being a bit of a maverick, but the perceived staidness of the society is what puts a lot of would-be members off joining."
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The group has 14,000 members. "Being a voluntary organisation we get people with passion. They're not paid, they do it because they want to," he says.
Wolton's passion for IT is plain. He graduated in computing at Brighton and then tackled a related Masters in Paris. "The idea was to gain an overview of the disciplines rather than specialise in programming as a career."
Wolton set up his own IT business while at university and lived in the US between 1998 and 1999 before being headhunted by his current employer mi2g. The firm, which is based in Battersea, London, specialises in security solutions for City financial institutions. However, Wolton's role in the YPG is not a problem for mi2g as it recognises the significance of the BCS.
Wolton originally became involved in the YPG after attending a local meeting. He liked what he saw and signed up for duty. Selection for the group's board preceded another promotion to his current role as chairman. Over the last two years, Wolton has looked at how best to expand and retain the society's student base. The YPG runs a discount scheme to attract students and they make up the majority of the group's membership. Wolton estimates that the group currently loses about 3,000 members a year. "Students sign up when they first get to university but tend to disappear by the end because they're broke."
Wolton hopes the current reorganisation of the society will stem this flow and points to the benefits of membership. One benefit is networking. "Making yourself known is essential in any industry and undergraduates will do their careers no harm" by joining up, he says. Wolton cites his own experience. "Public speaking no longer fazes me. I can talk to individuals or packed out halls, it's not a problem. Although a cliché, all students will eventually find themselves out in the real world so this type of experience is invaluable."
As YPG chairman, Wolton is also responsible for introducing initiatives for members. One such project is WorkLink, an online headhunting service that is vetted for members' security. The service is designed to help students find sandwich placements via a Web site. Greenwich University hosts the site on its servers in return for minimal sponsorship.
There are plans to link it with the Commonwealth Games business launch and a separate recruitment fair in Manchester. The games will require a large body of IT specialists to set up the thousands of IT systems required to host the competition successfully. The further addition of a job fair consisting of 180 exhibitors and sponsored by the Guardian should attract a large number of students and gain a substantial audience for the YPG with minimum outlay.
"Manchester helps to reinforce the fact that the society is a national organisation and not just a London concern," he says. Also high on Wolton's agenda is the need to rethink IT teaching at a time when there is a shortage of skills. He cites recent research from Greenwich University that indicates a much stronger vocational element is required to increase the worth of IT university degrees.
Many companies prefer not to take on students because of their image of unreliability. The research also highlights the need to re-engineer business attitudes towards students.
"Students should be used as semi-skilled workers that already know a lot and could be of long-term benefit to the employer," Wolton says. It is suggested that students could receive full-time studying perks but divide their time equally between study and work, thus gaining vocational skills. This would increase their worth to an industry desperate for skilled workers and also ease the situation in the short term. "The problem is that not only do businesses need to be won over but universities need to be convinced as well," says Wolton.
On the issue of IT being a male-dominated industry, Wolton says, "Pay is not the factor putting women off entering the market. I believe the problem starts far earlier." He believes there is an aura of geekiness about computing that puts women off, but another fundamental factor also influences the gender division in IT. "Science has been sidelined at schools and is now pushed less than other core skills such as English and Maths." Wolton explains that this has resulted in a reduction of IT workers and maintained science's stuffy image. As male teachers still dominate the sciences, this has continued to reinforce young females' negative views of science and IT.
Wolton hopes to be chairman of the YPG for at least another year, but plans to stay heavily involved with the society regardless of his position. He sits on the BCS council and, although his age isn't an issue, feels it irrelevant in general. "It's the attitude you bring to your work that is important, not your age."
To find out more about the Young Professionals Group, go to www.bcs.org.uk/ypg
