Volume 2, Issue 2, June 2006
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by James McConville
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by Alan Zisman |
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by Glen Holmes |
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by Heather Daly |
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by Chris Rozitis |
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by Rubi Corsi |
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by Bernajean Porter |
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by Dave McCristall |
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by CUE Executive |
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by CUE Executive |
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by CUE Executive |
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by CUE Executive |
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by CUE Executive |
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by James McConville |
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By Glen Holmes
How can we guide our students to develop the interest and the skills in the areas of ICT? Should we focus on the ICT or should we try to put it all into perspective according to what is happening in the area of ICT related careers?
ICT remains a male-dominated profession and it can be a challenge to get women interested in the field. At the high school level, it can be difficult to break the perception among young people – both males and females – that ICT is a job for nerds. According to a group of IT professionals and educators currently meeting in Victoria, it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract newcomers to the profession, particularly young women. Daniel Shapiro, academic program manager at Microsoft Canada has expressed concern around the issues of attracting young people, particularly females into the profession: “It’s important to start teaching children about IT before the stereotypes have a chance to set in”, said Shapiro, who suggested that the minimum should be Grade 7. Even that may be too old, said Sandra Saric, an information systems manager at the Software Human Resource Council, based in Ottawa. “Grade 7 or 8 is almost too late,” she said. “That geek mentality is already forming.”
Even the number of students enrolled in ICT-based post-secondary education programs has also decreased in recent years, resulting in fewer graduates entering the job market. This, in turn, is resulting in fewer people available for the Canadian job market with the necessary ICT skills. However, we must consider what those skills really are. Unlike previous skills shortages focused on technical skills, the current shortage will be in business-related IT occupations such as business analysts and directors of technical implementation. There is concerned also that young people in the B.C. area are being lured to gaming and the more creative Web side of the IT business, draining jobs from big business and government sectors. There is a gradual shift of even these types of jobs to areas outside of Canada.
According to some industry specialists the number of pure programming jobs in Canada is rapidly shrinking. Those tasks tend to be the ones that are outsourced to places such as India. It’s the business-oriented ICT skills that are now prized more highly. Today companies are looking for people who can see the bigger picture. As such, soft skills and the ability to collaborate with entire departments are of increasing value to employers. Group-based learning is being emphasized at post secondary institutions like Western University in order to encourage students to reproduce that behaviour in the workforce.
Bruce Diemert, director of recruiting firm Robert Half International’s operations in Vancouver, confirmed there is need for ICT people with soft skills, specifically in communicating, writing and speaking. What CIOs are really looking for, however, is “how well you work in a team” and anyone who can “bridge the gap between business and technology. There is no shortage of technical skills. You get this source from anywhere in the world,” he said. “But jobs such as business analysts and in areas like business intelligence are going begging.”
All this tells us that we need to help our students from a young age to see the possibilities of what could be a lifetime of learning in an area that can be a lot of fun. They need to learn that it is the “soft skills” that are important and we need to learn how to help them learn these skills.
