Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Current News
Do You Believe in Magic? Why Millennials Show Little Interest in IT Careers
7/27/2005
So that perception combines with the decreasing pool of male students to put a drain on students choosing those majors. I think that if there are computer science departments out there feeling the need to boost their student numbers, they’d be wise to really focus on making IT classes female-friendly – and that d'esn’t mean having pink computers. (Although for the Millennials in general, colorful computers is not a bad idea at all.) Relevance.
I spoke earlier today with Diana Oblinger, EDUCAUSE vice president, and she
noted that Millennials are extremely keen on finding relevance and importance
to their life and making a difference in the world. Many of them do not see
through the initial façade of disciplines like mathematics, the sciences, and
computer science and just do not perceive them as relevant. She noted that anecdotally,
at least, there is a rise in joint majors where students focus on, for example,
applying information technology to social studies or other disciplines.
Technology Versus Magic.
But I think that the biggest force working on students nowadays, working against
their choosing computer science majors, is a counterintuitive one. It was Arthur
C. Clarke, I think, who once said: “Any technology, sufficiently advanced, is
indistinguishable from magic.”
The Millennials grew up with this technology and it is for them now so slick and so sophisticated that while they would probably not describe it as magic, it d'es “feel” like magic to them. Called “magic” or not, we are living in a magical world, and they do not have to know computer science to work the magic!
They have the most fun with it when they don’t have to think about it. Think about that. Ten years ago you had the most fun with technology toys if you knew how to code, connect cables, and build things: Because you had to know that to use them. That’s not true anymore, and why on earth would someone want to dig inside the toys and learn how they work instead of play with them?
A few people always will want to, but most will not. These students don’t feel the need or want to create software or build hardware, they just want to use those technology tools to do things.
When you think about it, it seems an inevitable consequence of where we are in the transformation by technology of our culture – and it’s only going to get more so.
At a Society for College and University Planning roundtable just this morning I was describing to a group of high-level college administrators how in 10 years I would be walking around with my computer jewelry dangling from my neck and a host of three-dimensional avatars hanging around me in a cloud, representing my coworkers, colleagues, and friends in distance places (or even around the corner or up the hallway). Those avatars and I would be talking back and forth much like we use instant messenger now.
Those high-level administrators didn’t blink an eye. Almost no one believes in magic anymore, but that may be because we are surrounded by so much of what would definitely have seemed to be magic 50 years ago.
Maybe we have to wait until the Harry Potter kids hit college and maybe we should rename our computer science departments as “Departments of Magic.” Someone needs to write a grant to the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation. If you do, count me in as a consultant.
About the author: Terry Calhoun is Director of Communications and Publications for the Society
for College and University Planning (SCUP). You can contact him through CT's IT Trends forum by clicking here. View more articles by Terry Calhoun.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- IT Trends :: Thursday, August 28, 2008
:::::: CAMPUS WIFI
:: Saint Joseph Builds Out Wireless Network in Multi-year Upgrade
:::::: IT NEWS
:: California Community Colleges Partner with Waterfall Mobile on Statewide Emergency Notification Coverage
:: King's College and ASU Add e2Campus for Improved Emergency Notifications
:: Vista Ramp Up Is Happening Now, Study Says
:: Talisma Launches New Version of CRM with Built-in Application Management
:: Ferrum College Enrolls Juniper Networks To Extend 10 Gigabit Ethernet
:: California Community Colleges Adopt SunGard Banner Software
:: Ball State U Web Sites Now Managed with Sitecore - C-Level View :: August 27, 2008
:::::: EXECUTIVE VIEW
: Let the Games Begin! Google vs. Microsoft
:::::: WORTH NOTING
: California Community Colleges Adopt SunGard Banner Software
: McGill U Library Scanning Rare Books with Kirtas
: Ball State U Web Sites Now Managed with Sitecore
: Report: Green Efforts Improving on Campuses
: Oracle Releases Student Administration Integration Pack - SmartClassroom :: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
:::::: COLLABORATION
: Bringing Composers into Classrooms Through Skype
:::::: NEWS and PRODUCT UPDATES
: Columbia U Going Live on iTunes U
: Tiffin U's New Online College to Use Pearson's eCollege for Course Management
: Luidia Releases eBeam Interact 2.1 for Interactive Whiteboards
: McGill U Library Scanning Rare Books with Kirtas
: Ball State U Web Sites Now Managed with Sitecore - SmartClassroom :: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
:::::: COLLABORATION
: Bringing Composers into Classrooms Through Skype
:::::: NEWS and PRODUCT UPDATES
: Columbia U Going Live on iTunes U
: Tiffin U's New Online College to Use Pearson's eCollege for Course Management
: Luidia Releases eBeam Interact 2.1 for Interactive Whiteboards
: McGill U Library Scanning Rare Books with Kirtas
: Ball State U Web Sites Now Managed with Sitecore - News Update :: Tuesday, August 26, 2008
:::::: NEWS
: Report: Green Efforts Improving on Campuses
: Polytechnic Institute of NYU Deploys Array Networks Equipment for Access Control
: Oracle Releases Student Administration Integration Pack
: Red Hat Hacked, Company Issues Security Advisory
: Sun Open Sources Mobile Toolkit LWUIT
: Vulnerability Management Needed for Security, Study Says
: Microsoft Details SharePoint-SQL 2008 Integration
: Higher Ed Growing into BI, Data Warehousing
: LectureShare Updates Free Course Management System - Campus Security :: August 22, 2008
:::::: CASE STUDY
: Corralling Identity Management
:::::: CAMPUS SECURITY NEWS
: Vulnerability Management Needed for Security, Study Says
: Wayne State Deploys Q1 Labs QRadar to Manage and Secure Network
: KU Medical Center Installs Real-time Beacon System
: Virginia Tech Tries 'Compliance Sheriff' To Improve Web Site Accessibility
: Microsoft, BearingPoint Team Up To Provide Risk-Based Compliance Solution
: Collaboration Key to Security, Microsoft Says
: IBM Unveils New Software Designed To Streamline eDiscovery
: Security Woes Up, as PHP and OSS Make the List
