How can we do more to encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology?
Answers (3,370)
Ronel P
Management & Project Consulting Professional; Forest Edge Resort Owner; Entrepreneur; Mother; Tree-hugger; Spirit
People pursue anything (it) for a few reasons:
1) There is something in it for them (the rewards are clear and can be linked to their choice in THEIR minds)
2) A powerful role model displays, rewards or supports it
3) They will feel part of something (and even better if it is something exciting and cool to their perceived peers)
4) Alignment with their talents and interests
5) A little more obscure, but in my opinion an increasing tendency, to feel one is able to use it to actually overcome perceived ecological, economic or social problems in one's own small way.
Any program to achieve the above will have to address several, if not all, of the above facets effectively.
Also be aware that there is an increasing trend for the young generation to be less interested in "career" as a concept than in a broader path that will allow them to flexibly and fluidly add multi-disciplinary value, ultimately as entrepreneurs.
But then, I am sure you know all of this :-)
Ronel P also suggests this expert on this topic:
I was part of the Minority Programs at Georgia Tech during my graduate studies in EE. One of my roles was to engage high-school level minority students through visits to Georgia Tech campus and educate them on different engineering disciplines, applications and career prospects. The idea was to evoke their interest in the field of engineering and it worked. In my opinion, this should answer your question at a strategic level.
Simple. As a country, we need to place more value and financial resources towards education at the K-8th grade level. As a country, we continue to slash funding for education in the public schools. How can we compete with the rest of the world if we don't put forth the resources needed to educate our youth? How can we encourage kids to pursue careers within these sectors when many schools don't even offer these courses as part of the curriculum on a regular basis.
Currently in the state of California (where I reside) we are facing severe budget cuts in education for k-12 grades (dictated by Governor Arnold) and pink slips are forthcoming for many teachers throughout this state. The arts, sciences and technology are now being supplemented by Parents Groups, PTA's and fundraising efforts. The U.S. is falling behind many other countries in regards to educating our youth. This does not bode well for the future of our country in the next 20-30 years.
If we want to encourage young kids to pursue careers in science and technology, than we need to emphasize these subjects at the k-8th grade level when young minds/brains are forming. This requires federal and state money.
Ernest D
Electronic Data Collection Systems Trainer at Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems & Owner of DDB Solutions
Hello Mr. Gates
I work for The Baltimore City Public School System, and my role is to help integrate technolgy into the school's curriculum. To be blunt Mr. Gates, most inner city schools do not have the resources neccessary for students to gain an interest in science and technology. Thanks to your generous support, some schools in our district has received some assistance to address this problem. However, those schools who has not received donations from your foundation can not afford the means to integrate technology into their curriculum. I just spoke with a teacher a few hours ago that is eager and willing to use technology with her students, is proficient in teaching with technology, but does not have the financial means to buy a projector so she can expose the children to science and/or technology.
One solution to encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology would be to provide money for additional computers in the classroom. The ratio of computer to student in the 5 schools I service does not support learning.
Another solution to encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technoloy would be to offer additional scholarships, interns, and waivers to attend Microsoft camp for inner city children. This will help motivate children with minimal intererst as well as expose the to both science and technology.
Thanks for posing this question. I hope this offers insight.
Ernest Davis
Technology Integration Analyst II
Baltimore City Public School System
I think the young people are more restless than ever and has dime a dozen reasons for the way they have been brought up in the not too distant past.
If I were to include me as an example; I grew up in a very traditional, conservative, humbe, middle-class family in towns and districts far away from the cosmopolitan environments of cities like Bombay, New Delhi of India. I for one reason didn't find engineering to be as attractive and lucrative as a career option than MBA (Sales, Marketing, Finance) and the reasons that atttribute to this fact are Media exposure, travel opportunities, global career development, exposure to society, social & professional networking etc.
I for example hate being locked up in the confines of cubes & "inside-the-box" thinking and the Y generation has even more extreme reaction to the way our computing industry drives software development, or our engineering industry drives innovation. Young people need a dose of cooperation, collaboration and more of it in order to drive results and achieve objectives together. What worked in the previous generation may or may not work in the next generation!
The cults that people form over a period time have a tendency to disrupt all existing theories of how we work, how we get work done and how we enjoy what we do.
"Bottom Line" in my opinion is that we need to transform our workplace environment and move away from Maverick like culture to more creative, fun-loving, cooperative and not so lonely environments that we have so gotten used to over time.
cheers!
Madhup
J. D. W
Communication Professor, Lubbock Christian University
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Good question Bill,
Inherent in your question is the idea of tapping into those that are influenced by instant gratification. Interesting group to tap into. The obvious response would be either to teach them to delay gratification (not likely given the current research) or find ways to instantly gratify them on their way to careers in S & T. That means that the majority of strategies may be catalytic events and not necessarily results generating in and of themselves. That’s ok because they are the cause of other results producing vehicles such as attitudes, skills, and abilities. That would make the real question concern whether these new vehicles can be sustained throughout academic and preparatory environments.. If they have demonstrable advantage not just in the long term (and this is key) but also in the short term the probability of sustainability increases. Assuming the career adoption has value that outweighs the overhead of adoption, then your question really localizes around a diffusion of innovation. The practical issue concerns whether or not they are adopted by a critical mass of individuals helping to insure the long term adherence. Useful in categorizing issues is Ev Rogers characteristics of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialibility, and observability.
Relative advantage
The innovative skills have to be seen by the individual as advantageous over the status quo. If the career preparation is nice, novel and fun but provides no real advantage concerning the day to day, other paths or careers will be preferred. Having infrastructure, academic and administrative support becomes critical in establishing relative advantage.
Compatibility
The career skills must be compatible with the culture into which they are inserted. If I have a whole university (e.g. MIT) then compatibility issues can be worked out an organizational level. But if there is a high level of interdependence with other individuals and departments that are not technology centered then the interdependencies must be addressed. My suspension is this will be done possibly through social rather than academic networks.
Complexity
This is a big one for S & T. A great many career paths that try to offer value for the money offer too many concepts principles or behaviors that can be consumed in the time required. More simplistic or parsimonious paths to adoption (not a career but a decision to engage in the career) are needed. If the complexity of the decision or career path is too complex for the adopters initial commitment then adoption is doubtful.
Trialibility
Simply put, being able to try the career paths concepts in a less risky environment helps adoption. It doesn’t matter what accolades S & T receives if I have to bear the brunt of a failed career choice I may not even try. Another way to put this is I should have an easy entry strategy for this career path and ALSO an easy exit strategy where my time in S & T was not seen as wasteful (e.g. courses transfer, intermediate skills sets whose value are immediately apparent).
Observability This one is normally not well covered by S & T. Observability should provide a plethora of visual case studies to allow participants to observe the implementation of concepts. The best ones would show realistic adoption scenarios with setbacks as well as successes.
All of these are designed to help achieve critical mass of individuals adopting behaviors. If critical mass is achieved behaviors become institutionalized and long term effects are more likely. Hope this provides some help that can be applied in your particular circumstance.-jd
Feel free to link with me if you like. My e-mail is fordocjd2@hotmail.com
As a IT recruiter, I see more opportunites available for young professionals who are looking to grow with firms. The starting salaries for technologists can exceed $60K if in the right field. Especially with the goverment technology market soaring. There are a lot of opportunites available for job security and stability. To this day, I still wonder if my choice to go into marketing was a good idea or not.
Joe S
Sr. Recruiting Consultant - JJSlevin and Associates (TopLinked.com) jjslevin@yahoo.com
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Hi Bill,
As a technical recruiter working in Los Angeles recruiting for Microsoft and Open Source Technologies, there seems to me that there is a very large opportunity for the young to pursue careers in Science and Technology. I have worked on the hardware side of things as well in Optical Telecom.
One area that would help is something I proposed when we had the original Peace Dividend back in the late '80s. Where individuals effected by the downturn economically be subsidized to teach Science and Technology in the high schools throughout the country on a part time basis.
I think showing the youth of our country and throughout the world that technology is here to stay, that it is real, useful, it helps people, informs them, solves problems and technology actually is something you can see. Young people love to play with technology all the time. Get them to see that they can actually use their minds to create things that people can use at work and play.
I think looking for people with aptitude in language and math and leading them, encouraging them, putting them in front of a computer and showing them how they can create a simple program by just using a language to manipulate information would be exciting to them. They would be able to see something they created.
I think a book by yourself for the youth, more of a booklet, "Your Road Ahead." Even talking about how you got into technology at a young age, what motivated you, what could be in store for them.
Additionally, I think we need more of a system like we see in India, once someone finishes a degree, they may opt for an Advanced Diploma in Computer Science. Maybe we can work with the technical schools to have a fast track program for the best and brightest to take these classes after taking something that has technology in University studies, but may not be CS or otherwise related. Sometimes the young need a Vision, Inspiration and a Plan. Also the parents need to be involved to encourage that vision and inspiration as well.
All the best in encouraging youth to have something to work toward.
Joe Slevin
Have more movies like Real Genius (1985), Weird Science (1985), and WarGames (1983). After seeing these I saved up and bought a computer and a modem. These movies made it cool to be a geek.
Links:
We can do more to encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology by inspiring them to get involved. Throughout our country's storied history, we've had examples of young people getting inspired to pursue science and technology by icons of technology. For example, Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindberg inspired many young people to go into aviation. John Delorean inspired many young people to become automobile designers. Mae Jemison inspired many young people to pursue careers as astronauts. The list goes on and on. A very effective way for us to do more to encourage young people to pursue careers in S&T would be to use modern-day icons to communicate inspirational messages regarding how and why they began their careers in science and technology. These inspirational messages can be delivered in a number of ways using modern communications methods. Due to the myriad of ways young people's attention gets divided, we could target specific communications methods such as: Create a you tube series of tech icons delivering inspirational messages, place some "cool" tech commercials on MTV, and create a technology website that can be included in school curriculums that young people can get credit for completing. Make the website interesting by among other things, including live webcasts of tech icons delivering inspirational messages.
This was a great question. As a father of 3 elementary school-aged kids, I would greatly appreciate more help from others, especially technology icons, in inspiring my kids to consider careers in science and technology.
Well for starters, don't come out with another O/S like Vista - I used to be able to stick up for Microsoft in the past, but it seems with each passing year you guys just don't "get it" anymore.
Paul I
Globally experienced sales and marketing visionary
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This is not a difficult question! It is simply answered as 'make it cool to be in technology again'. The kids of today are looking to make an impact on their bank accounts as quickly as possible and they need to know that there are plenty of jobs in this industry and the requirement for top talent is growing daily.
We need to get in at the grass-roots level to ensure that the high school educators are properly versed in these requirements. I believe that it is the responsibility of each and every parent, in this industry, to get this message across in our kid's schools.
Mark S
Experienced business communicator and manager of outreach, advocacy and issues management programs.
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I believe we'd engender more interest in science and engineering if more middle schoolers were exposed to what was once called "industrial arts."
No doubt I date myself, but I learned a great deal of practical science and math in graphic arts (print shop), mechanical drawing, woodshop and metalshop.
It seems to be about selling the idea of being able to solve problems by careers in science and technology.
Various factors (cultural, geo-political etc) need to be studied and appropriate message be relayed to the young generation via media (paper, internet etc) which helps in convincing them that the problems or gaps they see in current situations could be solved by them using science and technology. Youth is always encouraged if it feels it could bring about a change via a given tool.
Clarification added March 3, 2008:
"could be solved by them" - correction "might be solved by them"
Michelle K
Snr. Technical Trainer - Global Product Support at Life Technologies (ABI)
In the first place young people need to see science and technology as cool - that is the easy part - science and technology are cool - and as long as children's natural enthusiasm can be directed and encouraged you are on the right path. There are a 101 different ways to do this many of which are already available, although probably not for all children at all times.
Secondly, science and technology needs to be seen as a cool profession - that is much harder because there you are going up against cultural perceptions and lets be realistic how many people would be excited if their kid came home and said they wanted to be a cellular physiologist? Or even that they wanted to work with radiation and do a PhD??? Even if they said they wanted to have a career in personalized medicine would that excite a response? Personally, I doubt it because unless you are directly connected to these professions you are unlikely to know what they are talking about. Also most people who are connected to these professions although they are probably hard working, and educated are not advocates or even great communicators - they are just doing their job.
What parents want for their children and what most children want for themselves - is success - success comes in many shapes and sizes but money and power are the main measures in our society. And the professions most people would probably encourage their kids into? - doctors, lawyers, sales, business etc etc. Alternatively, some of the service industries would be acceptable if you're talking nursing or teaching but anything else is largely viewed as less than second rate and only for people who aren't good enough to do anything else or who are on their way to somewhere better - that says a lot about society and that is your challenge!
Finally, if people get into science and technology - there are still a lot of ceilings to break in terms of women and minorities being accepted and being able to contribute in their own way without conforming to the unhealthy male dominated practices that are all too common. To my mind this is less of a problem because if you address getting people into the profession there will be a wave of change that will force changes in management - better still would be to help bring about these changes and maybe that would help make these professions seem more appealing.
All I can tell you is I have a PhD in cellular physiology and metabolism and I worked at what was a hot biotech company but now I'm working as a finance and accounting recruiter!
Anyway I think it is great you have asked this question because you are in a position to create the change needed.
Thanks
Bill,
I suggest you contact Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who came from a remote village to become a Scientist President of India.
Thx
Murali
Well Bill)I hope you mind me calling you Bill), I've seen a lot of good reasons here. I don't have teens and I'm not a technologist, but I would like to make an observation. We live in a country where 60% of the population believe in angels and our president doesn't believe in evolution. Our children are taught to memorize, not observe, and the only reason to get involved in science is to become the next you. How are they supposed to develop any interest, any passion in a system like this?
Growing up, I was fortunate to have great mentors - whether it was teachers, parents, or neighbors. They always encouraged me in whatever I pursued. Looking back, I feel this was critical - especially being a girl interested in "things meant only for boys".
Realizing how fortunate I was at a young age, I became a mentor for many children 6-12 years old while I was in high school. I encouraged them to learn about science and engineering - and did this through a program that later became part of FIRST Robotics (Lego League). Being that it was hands on, and with Legos - they were able to experience how cool it was.
Many of the students are now now in college and have pursued fields in science and engineering. More importantly, regardless of their major pursued, they experienced what the fields were about at a young age - a critical time for development. This allowed them to make an intelligent decision in what they pursued.
To me, the single most important contributer to this field is Dean Kamen. Without the opportunities he has presented thousands of students like myself through the FIRST Robotics - I doubt I, nor many others, would have pursued becoming an engineer.
You always hear how far behind US students are in the area of science and technology - yet not many people do anything about it...
Links:
Alex S
Manager at Alexander Shekarchian Management
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Pay off their student loans for whatever field they did train in and pay for their education in science and technology.
Kirill Z
Sr. Purchasing Analyst at Sikorsky Aircraft
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This is a great question, I feel that it is up to us as individuals as parents, friends, brothers and sisters to try and influence the younger generation to make an attempt to learn something. The biggest issue especially in this country when it comes to motivation is that television programming has a strong influence on the younger generation. All we see on television are shows about crime, reality television (I think this may be fixed), a ton of programming that is completely useless for the mental development of individuals not just the younger generation. If being an authoritative figure be so in a positive sense, one thing I enjoy is the Discovery Channel there is so much interesting information there. Also, too many home shopping networks where individuals can purchase things they do not need or are too lazy to go to the store for. The question I ask is where is this country really going? When many individuals even on tv quiz shows have no idea in what year WWII ended that is just pathetic and inexcusable especially for our educational system let alone parenting tactics.
Individuals want to be heard and a lot have many talents and a vast array of potential but they are not given the chance to demonstrate those talents. Many individuals are not even approached or asked about what their interests are so they are either left behind in the system or fall off entirely. We need to care more as individuals, parents, brothers, sisters, friends and even in some cases strangers because you never know who's life you could influence by just listening to them and speaking the truth.
Free software: Linux!
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Developing robotic and games developing softwares, easy to using and interactive.
Roberio Brazil
More scholarships, though this would be a bandaid. Having lived in Germany for 5 years where a child can get a University education for relatively little money, there are few deterrents between what the mind can do, and a clear path to achievement. In the USA the deterrents are too many, and unreasonable for a developed nation. We have a hard, though escapable class system, and the amount of debt a child or family must incur is unreasonable relative to our lifestyle - and must be filtering away many of our best and brightest minds because of socio-economic reasons, for starters. Children LOVE to learn. But when its time for them run the last mile, the gates should be wide open.
"YOU TOO CAN MAKE IT POSSIBLE!"
Remember Star Trek heroes used "cellulars" to communicate with Enterprise? A technology only available to us decades later...
Consider the amount of innovation propositions sci-fi and IT brougth us.
Why don't we make a paralel with those "old" amazing ideias with actual existing ones and say to youngters:
"YOU TOO CAN MAKE IT POSSIBLE!"
pbalau@yahoo.com
Dear Mr. Bill,
This is a very interesting question. Youngsters in India don't need encouragement to pursue their careers in science and technology because a majority of them have a decent IQ and are hard working as well. In addition, almost all of them want to go abroad and have global experience and have an urge to compete. However if you compare this with the western world, I was surprised to see a lot of youngsters taking active interest in arts, management, sports and other alternative fields. This could be mainly because you can still make a decent living and have a comparatively less stressful life. So to conclude, youngsters will only pursue science and technology when the “costs” are less and “benefits” are more when they do their cost-benefit analysis.
Put tariffs on offshore IT work.
Parents have to encourage and to open their mind together with their children to science and technology.
Sebastien
Bill, to encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology we have to reach them earlier, provide real-world/hands-on exercises, and help them connect science/technology with possible vocations.
One way to do this is to develop and administer programs that bring vibrant and talented working professionals in class to work hands-on with children in conducting basic science projects and experiments.
I volunteered for such a program years ago. The children (4th and 5th graders) enjoyed the attention of small working groups (1 adult per 4 - 6 children), they were amazed at being able to do things themselves (electroplating coins, building a light, etc.). While in session, we discussed the disciplines (vocations) involved and talked about our own careers.
The teachers and administrators liked the fact that the projects were linked to their curricula., the parents liked having "role models" in class, and we, the volunteers, liked having the program administrator coordinate all the logistics: class scheduling, experiment selection, materials, etc.
More important, we enjoyed seeing the radiance in the children's faces when they "got it".
Do it earlier, make it fun and exciting, connect it with future opportunities.
Interesting and challenging question. As part of my MOT program we studied this exact phenomenon with our visit to China in 2006: there are many more Chinese, Eastern Indians and others producing more engineers in science and technology.
Two things from me: 1) As a black man, it really is the lack of "cool" factor with studying these fields, and I suspect this applies to other races as well. 2) It has got to be about marketing...we market everything in the US, some things better than others. Has anyone ever asked a preteen or teenager the question about why their sneakers are so much better today?
We, quite simply, have to market the science and technology fields and the cool factor within them. Some programs / shows are trying to do this. But, we have to believe everyone has a curiosity about something. Tap into this at an early age by means of exploration. Ask the questions, then ask the young people to think of ways to improve upon the things they are interested in. Add creativity to the mix and we might have something.
Make it plain what the benefits are.
People grow up wanting to be doctors and lawyers because they get to help people -- and, they get to make a lot of money. Young people are not sure what the benefits are to a career in science and/or technology. People generally do not ghet up to work every day to help advance humanity. There's always a story in media about how "the pharmaceutical companies are ruining the country/government/our health" -- it's a lot more acceptable to go into banking, because we teach children that it's all about making money.
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