Ireland is facing a huge shortage of graduates to fill jobs in the technology industry, according to professor emeritus of computing at Dublin City University (DCU) Michael Ryan.
Speaking to The Sunday Independent, Ryan was highly critical of the Irish Government and universities for how they promote jobs in tech to students.
“It depresses me, it kills me,” he asserted.
“This is a whole new world of opportunity and young people just don’t know what they are missing.
“We are giving young people the wrong idea about computing – the job opportunities in this field are highly creative and hugely interesting, offering opportunities to travel the world and (have) a lot of fun.”
Ryan believes that although current students are being educated in how to build hardware, there should be a bigger focus on encouraging creativity in software development.
“We are good at producing super users but not educating young people on how they make it tick. There should be less focus on terminology such as science/technology and more on creativity”.
A recent survey by Brightwater Recruitment found a feeling of misalignment between what the universities in Ireland are delivering and what industry is demanding in terms of skills. Thirty-five per cent of respondents felt that the universities are providing the skills and knowledge needed, while a slight majority, 36pc, believe they are not.
University image via Shutterstock
