[school-discuss] Gen Y not as interested in IT

[knowtree@xxxxxxxxx]

The other day I argued that FOSS should not be the focus of study. When I
say this I do not mean that no student should ever study IT. What I do mean
is that IT should be taken for granted, FOSS included. Perhaps I should
even say will be taken for granted. 

Today Slashdot picked up a simple story published on the Computerworld web
site about how differently today's young folks view IT. I especially like this:

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This is the group that simultaneously IMs, blogs, surfs the Web and
downloads podcasts. In the end, ironically, it might be this extreme
comfort with technology that most deters these young people from pursuing
IT as a favorable, even desirable, career.

"To another generation, IT was cool because no one else knew much about
it," notes Kate Kaiser, associate professor of IT (and one of Lee's
instructors) at Marquette. "This generation is so familiar with technology,
they see it as an expected part of life" -- and therefore not worthy of
consideration as a full-time career."

<http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9043339>

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You have to understand that the speaker has a vested interest in getting
young people interested in IT careers (see the bio at the end of the
story). From that context her words are a problem statement. To me they are
what's so. 

Where do you position yourself on this issue?

Gary Dunn
Honolulu
Open Slate Project 
http://openslate.sourceforge.net/