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Where have all the students gone?

Richard Hogg, Information Age

18/10/2006 21:39:51

A little over 10 years ago the student intake at all Australian Universities was moving at a steady pace. Job prospects for graduates were strong and education institutions were achieving their student (and budgetary) targets.

However, since 2000 the ICT industry and profession has been under threat: poor business decisions, even poorer systems performance and print media always on the lookout for a good headline-grabbing bad ICT story.

Confidence waned in the industry, jobs were seen to be transient as the pressure mounted on ICT departments to cut costs, become more efficient -- or go offshore to achieve both. The repercussions were felt across the board but never more so than in the education sector.

Suddenly, student enrolments started to drop and have kept going. One university reported student numbers cut by more than 50 per cent in four years,

Students were avoiding the ICT courses like the plague. Even TAFE colleges, to a certain extent, were finding the same problem. The TAFE sector is less exposed as the students are generally across all age groups with many more mature age students attending.

All the universities were coming under tighter budgetary constraints as the Federal Government pushed forward with its plans to make universities operate as fully commercialised businesses. An anathema.

Universities are best at education; their business acumen is generally lacking. You have only to look at some of the disastrous business decisions of the past decade to confirm the truth of this.

As funding from the Government had been decreasing each year, more overseas and local full-fee-paying students were required to make up the financial shortfall.

In previous years this was not a drama: overseas students and especially their parents saw an Australian education as the best opportunity for their future whether in Australia or back in their homeland.

The number of overseas students in Melbourne alone in 2004 topped 30,000 but the good times were about to disappear. Well, not exactly disappear but certainly reduce. This student cohort has fed the institutional coffers of both university or TAFE colleges for many years, and any loss of enrolments would make life difficult.

Coupled with this trend is an emerging growth of educational facilities in our wider geographic regions. In China new universities are springing up around the country giving students the opportunity to study at home rather than overseas.

Added to this is the pressure on the older students to stay home and watch over ageing parents. The one child policy is now having a different side effect.

Within Australian universities and TAFE colleges the ICT faculties are tightening their proverbial belts. Staff departures, both voluntary and forced, are now commonplace as the management strives to stay in the black.

One leading Melbourne university has merged its Information Systems department with Engineering; at least two TAFEs have closed their ICT schools and another university is halving it's headcount and another by more than 40 academic staff.

All these issues focus attention on the negative aspects of the ICT sector which in turn divert students away from considering a career in ICT. As long as this situation continues we will continue to see a contraction of educational facilities.

What is being done to address the problem?

Now, after four years of falling enrolments, action is being taken - well, in Victoria anyway through a government initiative seeking to pull together all interested parties to address the future of the ICT education and the ICT industry itself.

It is important to note here that the ICT sector currently employs approximately 138,000 people in Victoria alone. With the rapidly changing demographics of the Victorian population this number will need to be maintained to counter retirements.

In May this year, the Victorian Minister for ICT, Marsha Thomson, asked Multimedia Victoria (MMV) to invite representatives from universities, TAFE, ICT companies, computer associations (ACS, AIIA), business associations (AIG, VECCI) and education departments (DEST) to join a round table forum with the aim of doing something positive to redress the slide.

The Victorian Government also invited these bodies to contribute money to match their $125,000 offer on a dollar for dollar basis. Interestingly the associations and business were quick to sit on the cheque books, whilst the universities were equally quick to put up money.

The result of two meetings of the large group saw two smaller sub-committees being set up. One sub-committee was charged with organising suitable regional and CBD events at suitable venues together with speakers with a story to tell.

The other set out to define a suitable logo, message and marketing collateral to enable students, in particular, to recognise the opportunity to gain meaningful data about the ICT sector, the jobs, the careers and the education path to get there.

There was a lot of discussion as to the merits of addressing the current Year 12 student cohort. It was agreed those who were settled on their course selection would not be swayed toward an ICT course but those who were undecided were part of the target group.

Another group would be those who did not achieve their exam results and a further group would be those who did not gain their first preference

A series of public forums would be held in five regional cities around the state, interspersed with the individual university open days as well as three events in the Melbourne CBD.

The aim was to present to the broader market a better picture of the ICT industry and its future. The audiences for these forums would be year 12 students, their parents, school careers councillors and any other interested persons.

The audience would be addressed by people working in the field, not academics and the old brigade, but young people who made a choice of an educational stream and a career, and who were achieving their dreams. These presenters would tell it like it is; what course they took and why; where they are today and why.

Interwoven into these public events will be a marketing campaign with a strong and realistic message. The message has been approved as "saleable" by a focus group made up of people who were seen to be part of the target audience.

What will be the end result? Only time will tell whether those students who were undecided will make a different course selection. So far, six public events have been held around the state attended by nearly 800 students.

Will this regional interest translate into more enrolments? Stay tuned.

There is a plan to extend the marketing campaign into 2007 targeting years 9 and 10. This is where perceptions are formed and subject selections made but not necessarily career decisions.

This campaign will be focused heavily on careers councilors and the discipline teachers within the schools network. This is the group who can influence the direction a student may take

Teachers only just ahead Anecdotal evidence suggests that ICT teachers in secondary schools are still only just ahead of the least knowledgeable student. This was the story 10 years ago and it is disappointing to think it might still be the case today.

We, the ICT industry and profession, need to take a leading role in the future of our sector. We cannot rely on governments to provide money and leadership; according to Minister Thomson, if you want the Government to assist "put your money on the table".

It is in the best interests of the industry as well as the country for commerce to work more closely with academe to define the profile of today's graduate, to provide insight into the future technologies and the skills needed to support these, to be proactive in the recruitment and development of graduates, and to rethink recruitment policies as they relate to mature-age workers.

Finally, we need much more coordinated research to address the real skills picture: are there skills lacking or only skilled people?

With the supply of qualified people dwindling in line with the reduction in tertiary education courses, we face a major problem over the next three years. The "baby boomers" are expected to retire en masse but the demand for their replacements will not be met if the current situation continues.

It is time for a concerted national approach, not just one or two states doing something ad hoc The ACS is in a strong position to manage this future process. There is a vast amount of information out in the marketplace, but it needs to be pulled together and communicated to involved parties so that long-term decisions can be made.

Richard Hogg is a Past President of the ACS