Do you enjoy using your iPad, iPhone, or iPod? Maybe you use a Droid, a Tablet, or a laptop? How do you like your new hybrid car? Do you ever think about the new cash registers at the grocery store that talk to you while you scan your own goods? Or, when you’re not cursing them, do you ever think about how a city can have cameras all over town taking pictures of cars running red lights?
What do all these items have in common? That’s right: computers!!! We now live in – and even take for granted – a computing intensive society. Look around your home, your workplace, all over the community. Computers are everywhere! Nearly all of us use or are touched by – some might even say controlled by – computers on a daily basis.
Well, I recently found myself in a meeting on the beautiful Microsoft campus in Bellevue, WA, to discuss how to attract youth with disabilities and Latinos into the field of computer science. I wasn’t sure why I was there or what my role was, other than the fact that I’m connected to the National Collaborative on Workforce & Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth).
NCWD/Youth strives to help the workforce development system better serve youth, including youth with disabilities and other disconnected youth. We do a lot of work to help young people get a good education, become work ready, and transition into gainful employment. We serve as an information hub for a network of successful transition programs, called High School/High Tech, that help expose high school students to the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers. And, our organization operates a project, known as the Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program (RAMP), designed to mentor at-risk high school-age youth as they explore STEM careers.
I pride myself in having a pretty good understanding of the labor market, including the employment participation rates, unemployment rates, growing industry clusters, shifting employment trends, and the future job market. Yet, within an hour of the meeting getting underway – and, much to my surprise – I found myself actively listening and learning. Suddenly, I was learning about an important job market that wasn’t even on our radar screen.
“Computer science is among the fastest growing job markets in this country and the world,” said our keynote speaker, Chris Stephenson, executive director of theComputer Science Teachers Association. She cited studies showing schools and colleges in the United States can meet the workforce demands of only about 70 percent of the computer science jobs today and that, without interventions, the American pipeline will continue to decline. Currently, computer science jobs in government and industry in this country rely largely on educated youth from India and Germany to fill the 30 percent gap.
To compound the problem, schools offering computing science courses in high schools are also on the decline. In 2005, 78 percent of high schools were offering computing science; but by 2011, that number decreased to 69 percent. In America, “we are doing a lot to try to strengthen knowledge of young adults in the so-called STEM careers,” she explained. “We consider it essential for students to be able to read and write, and to understand the fundamentals of math, biology, chemistry, and even physics. Yet, in the information technology age, we don’t consider it that important that students understand the fundamental science behind computing or information technology.”
Think about all those computers in our lives. Yes, they’ve gotten smaller, sleeker, and prettier. But, what makes them work? What is the “science” behind each and every one of those computers? Who are the “computer scientists” creating the next generation iPhones, Blu-rays, wireless devices, energy grids, automobiles, airplanes, and some much more? And, given how quickly technological advances are being made in today’s global economy, what will be required to become one of the computer scientists of the future?
“Computer science is critical to be taught in high school,” Stephenson emphasized, “although we really need to start attracting and exposing students in middle school.” Research shows that students from ethnic minority backgrounds are far less likely to be exposed to computer science and schools with high numbers of underrepresented minority backgrounds are far less likely to offer computer science courses. Not surprised, we were told there is little to no research about computer science instruction or course-taking patterns among students with disabilities.
Computer science courses tend to be elective rather than required or part of core curricula, Stephenson pointed out. “As we increase math and science courses, computer science classes don’t count. They count as technology credits rather than science courses even though there is a good deal of science necessary to understand computers.” Our speaker challenged: “Where is the C in STEM?”
I certainly had never thought of computers in this way. I’ve only seen computers as the latest and greatest tool to help keep me competitive and more productive in the ever-growing information technology world. I’d never thought about the scientific skills necessary to create, design, program, maintain, and upgrade the computers that surround us.
During the course of the two-day meeting, we learned that there were a number of new tools (e.g. Alice, Scratch, Kodu, Phrogram, and Bootstrap) and some new curricula (e.g. Exploring Computer Science and Media Computation) available for high school and collegiate level instruction in computer science. We also learned that the National Science Foundation has been supporting a project to expose girls to the field of computer sciences, known as the National Girls Collaborative Project.
We were at this particular meeting, however, to discuss how to attract youth with disabilities and Latino youth into the field. The NSF was interested to see if the success of the Girls Project could be replicated in ethnic minority communities and within the disability community. EdLab Group, which created and grew the Girls Project, received support from NSF to create the Computer Science Collaborative Project.
The Computer Science Collaboration Project (CSCP) is offering mini-grant funding as an incentive for collaborative projects to efficiently increase the participation of K-12 youth with disabilities in computer science. These mini-grants are designed to build collaboration between participants from K-12 settings, community-based organizations, higher education, and industry to encourage youth with disabilities to pursue computer science educational programs and careers. In addition to awarding mini-grants, CSCP activities include in-person and online collaboration opportunities, dissemination of exemplary practices via a website, webinars, and professional development events. For more information about CSCP and the mini-grantssee www.cscproject.org. But, hurry, as the deadline for mini-grant applications is the end of this month – Wednesday, November 30th.
Now I knew why I was invited to be at this meeting! As I sat through the meeting, I realized that I needed to share my newfound knowledge about a potential job market with as many people as I could reach. I even began writing this blog in my head on the airplane home. As I was thinking about finalizing this piece, one morning a couple of weeks ago the news story below on CNN caught my attention (see video below or follow this link to the accessible version of the YouTube video).
embedded by Embedded Video
YouTube Direkt"Teaching technology for the future" CNN report by Soledad O'Brien
Once again I was hearing about an issue that hadn’t crossed my mind until a month ago. Here was a wonderful story about community-based programs also trying to interest youth in understanding the science behind the technology they so love to use. The hands-on approach to engaging youth to deepen knowledge is exciting.
I now understand that the science behind the computers and technology upon which we so depend is a matter of American ingenuity, economic competitiveness, and even national security. We need to expose youth to the computer science field, the open job market within the field, and the possibilities before them. With the proper education and training, there is no reason that young women, ethnic minorities, and youth with disabilities cannot help fill the void in this particular profession.
Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is December 4-10, 2011. Let’s use this opportunity to spread the word and bring attention to the need for computer science education for all students at all levels.
For additional information and resources, check out these websites:
- Computer Science Collaborative Project
- National Girls Collaborative Project
- Computer Science Teachers Association
- Computer Science Education Week
By Curtis Richards, Director of the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth and Director of the Institute for Educational Leadership‘s Center for Workforce Development.
- Eric Cline's blog
- Login to post comments
