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Balancing Act
Maintaining stability in the IT ecosystem by attracting new talent
IT jobs are increasing. Qualified candidates are decreasing. How do we restore balance to the IT ecosystem?
If you're interested in making a difference, but are still unsure how to proceed, consider these successful models for collaboration in the IT ecosystem:
The INTERAlliance of Greater Cincinnati — A group effort among IT leaders, academia, and high schools encouraging students to pursue careers in technology-related fields. For more information contact Alka Harriger at (765) 494-2565, harrigea@purdue.edu.
The Future Potential in IT program — Jointly sponsored by SIM and Microsoft, this program educates students and schools on the facts surrounding the IT job market. For more information, visit their website at www.futurepotentialit.com.
SPIRIT — (Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized Through Information Technology) – A Purdue University project funded by the National Science Foundation, this project encourages more young women to pursue technology-related careers by working directly with high school teachers and counselors. More information on the project can be found at www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007b/070919HarrigerSPIRIT.html.
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Fact: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that:
- "Employment (of computer systems analysts, computer scientists and database administrators) is expected to increase much faster than the average as organizations continue to adopt increasingly sophisticated technologies."
- "The employment of computer and information systems managers is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2014."
- "The computer systems design and related services industry is expected to experience rapid growth, adding 453,000 jobs between 2004 and 2014."
The Bureau also reports that the U.S. will have only half the qualified graduates needed to fill these positions, because of a decline in the number of students enrolling in math, computer, and science courses. Attraction to IT fields is dwindling – just when we need increasing numbers.
Though the problem is simple, the solution may not be. Turning the future talent shortage around will take a proactive, collaborative effort among all the elements of our IT ecosystem: service providers, enterprise IT, and academic institutions at every level.
CIOs and other executives who stand to bear the brunt of this issue are often in denial or complacent. You may be too busy, or may not know how to make a difference. But there are plenty of ways you and your organization can have a positive effect:
- Collaborate with universities. Universities are looking for guidance in developing relevant curricula that will help their students get the best possible jobs. Help department heads determine which courses to drop, keep, or add so students will graduate prepared.
- Launch your own PR campaign. Get the message out to middle and high school students that IT careers are on the rise. Have your PR or marketing experts develop communications (kid-friendly brochures, press releases, or articles to go in school newspapers) to drum-up interest in science, technology, and math courses.
- Create IT ambassadors. Have employees volunteer for career days at schools in your area. Bring classes in for interactive field trips (think hands-on, visual, and activity-oriented), or invite individual students to shadow tech professionals for a day.
- Send your new IT hires back. Ask a successful recent IT graduate to speak about his accomplishments to freshmen at local universities. By sharing his enthusiasm and experience, he can dispel common myths that technical professionals are just back-office geek programmers, and that all the good IT jobs are being sent to India. His real-life success story will act as a valuable recruiting tool for the university’s IT program.
- Offer internships or co-op positions. Providing work opportunities (paid or unpaid) for college students is a great way to support university programs. Your efforts will in turn ensure a steady flow of premium candidates into your organization.
Employers cannot remedy the IT talent shortage single-handedly. Admittedly, there is still much to be done on the part of academic institutions to tackle this problem:
- Create interest early. Academic institutions must develop and maintain students' interest in science and math beginning in Kindergarten. By middle school, many students have already developed a negative attitude toward technical subjects and don't develop basic skills needed to enter the field of IT.
- Standardize curricula. State or national curriculum standards would create consistency in how technology and computer science subjects are taught. Standardization that focuses on learning outcomes would help ensure courses are both rigorous and comprehensive enough to adequately educate students.
- Train teachers. Even more importantly, teachers must be adequately prepared to present the material in standardized curricula. Some universities are already working on certification programs and implementation documentation to help teachers educate successfully.
- Prepare students for work. Beyond textbooks and exams, universities must provide programs and opportunities that will give students the practical skills needed to succeed once they enter the real world. To achieve this goal, academic institutions must collaborate with IT organizations in ways like those listed in the first half of this article.
- Make learning technology fun. Schools need to use creative methods to generate interest in technology as a career. Consider "Alice," an innovative software program using 3-D visualization methods to teach object-based computer programming to high school students. On paper the concept sounds dry and boring. But the software makes it fun to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or creating a video to share on the web. The software is freely available at www.alice.org.
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