How can we best attract youngsters to IT careers? Let’s try asking them

SiliconValley.com – How can we best attract youngsters to IT careers? Let’s try asking them
Fall is here – students are back in class and the information technology industry is back to wondering how it can persuade young Americans to enter IT and other science, technology, engineering and math fields.

The annual round of hand-wringing and head-scratching by policy wonks, business leaders and educators isn’t working. We have been at it for years, and the track record is discouraging.

America will add more than 1 million IT jobs between 2004 and 2014, according to the Department of Labor. At the same time, undergraduate enrollment in computer sciences declined 59 percent from 2001 to 2005. When you consider that a newly minted systems analyst with a college degree will likely earn around $50,000 a year, you wonder if kids are getting the whole story.