27 Sep 2007
A contact suggested to me recently that there is no point in studying technology at university anymore.
So why the turn against computer science, especially given an escalating skills crisis where the UK IT industry is growing five to eight times faster than other sectors and needs 150,000 new entrants each year?
My contact said it is because firms no longer demand programmers and developers; they require business-focused graduates capable of becoming technology leaders.
More and more companies are realising they can pick up IT services cheaper overseas, which means more and more IT work is being offshored.
Where does this leave graduates who have a surfeit of technology skills? Increasingly, the answer is lower down the management food chain.
Computing has written at length about the need for UK educators and business leaders to work more closely together to provide more relevant technology courses.
And Ian Campbell, chief information officer at British Energy, told this newspaper recently that hiring is becoming tougher because the skills requirement of the IT industry has changed.
The answer to such a mismatch in expertise is simple students should stop studying IT courses; at least those focused on web development and programming that can be provided at lower cost from other parts of the world.
Many have already realised the futility of studying computer science, with the number of students choosing IT-related degrees almost halving from 27,000 to 14,700 between 2001 and 2005. Mathematics and computer science also have the highest university dropout rate in the UK.
A basic knowledge of IT will see graduates right, something most students in today’s IT-literate society will have already developed. So in a knowledge economy where an increasing number of basic computing jobs are being outsourced around the globe, students should instead focus on the business of IT.
Technology management needs graduates to understand financial processes:
return on investment; change management; risk management; even green strategies.
Don’t study the bits and the bytes concentrate on the pounds and the pence.
What do you think? Read my blog at:
http://knowledge.computing.co.uk
I think some of what you say is valid, however for those working in small to medium size companies perhaps buying out this labour isn't an option.
Additionally, at the university I work at, we have recently redeveloped our offering to align with Skills For the Information Age, a set of descriptors for which the BCS and industry has bought into. Hopefully we can turn out graduates with those skills, and an appreciation of business.
Finally, I strongly believe that there will be a return to computing related courses as all those 'marketers' realise that their degrees won't bear the fruit of employment. It's a boom-bust thing, flavour of the 'month' now, 'sour taste in the mouth' next year.
Posted by: Mark van Bellen 08 Oct 2007
Is it not reasonable to assume that as the demand for "cheap" labour increases the cost of these skills will also increase in time leading to an even more precarious situation?
Is offshoring a viable mid to long term option? Is it wise to terminate the development of local technical skills? Is it practical to continue to offshore for the indefinite future?
Posted by: Nicki 27 Sep 2007
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