Guest post written by Lisa Hook
Lisa Hook is President and CEO of Neustar.
Nearly 1.5 million computing jobs will become available over the next five years. The problem is, even in this economy, there will only be enough qualified graduates to fill about 30 percent of those positions.
The reason for the disconnect is clear: While the tech industry is changing at a break-neck pace and creating new jobs in the process, workers simply aren’t graduating fast enough – or with the necessary technical skills - to keep up with the demand.
As our industry evolves, so does the expertise we need to thrive. For example, the trend toward gleaning new insights by analyzing complex data has driven demand for workers with the know-how to make sense of it - as well as protect it. Technologists charged with parsing this information can create valuable opportunities for businesses and consumers to make more informed choices. Those specialists must also prevent that data from falling into the wrong hands. As a result, it’s no longer enough to be tech-savvy. To move forward, we must also be data-savvy.
Succeeding in this environment takes talent, ingenuity and dedication -- qualities this nation has in abundance. What we don’t have is the education needed to prepare students for today’s job market. There’s a sizable chasm between the skills on new graduates’ resumes and the proficiencies necessary for us to keep making crucial advances in our field.
It’s a huge problem, to be sure, but at least part of the solution starts with a simple acronym: STEM. It stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. As a nation, we continually fall behind other countries in these fields and, as a result, we’re in danger of falling behind on innovation.
STEM education takes a long-term view. Implementing a STEM-focused curriculum as early as elementary school allows educators to spark an interest in these subjects at an impressionable age and to encourage that interest to grow throughout high school and beyond. By the time students enter the work force, they will be better prepared to thrive in high-tech jobs. In my opinion, the private sector has a critical role to play in this evolution.
I have a vested interest here. Among other STEM-related programs, my company helped launch and has a major continuing commitment to “My Digital Life,” a digital literacy program that encourages children to learn about technology and use those skills responsibly. At least 73 schools in Virginia and Kentucky, two of the states our company calls home, have already signed up. We’re also involved in “Year Up!,” a one-year, intensive training program that provides hands-on skill development, college credits and corporate internships for low-income young adults. And just this spring, we opened the Neustar Labs Innovation Center at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Working closely with lab employees, students will drive projects focused on open innovation while developing professional skills that are difficult to acquire in the classroom alone.
It may seem contrarian to call for more private-sector involvement in public education. STEM alone will not solve the skilled-worker shortage, and these programs won’t attract everyone. However, as more corporations participate in such initiatives, a greater number of students will benefit and, in turn, contribute more to our economy.
Innovation seldom occurs in a vacuum, and these programs go a long way towards building a foundation for academic excellence that will help feed the pipeline of new talent. Corporations surely need to focus on the next quarter, but making an investment in the next generation—which is what happens when they support STEM programs in more elementary, middle and high schools—is equally vital. It’s not just in our own best interests; it’s also the right thing to do.
