Submitted by Mindy Hart, Purdue University 

I’ve been around K-12 education all my life. I come from a long line of teachers, I was a teacher, I’ve taught teachers how to teach, and now I’m on the hunt for students who want to be teachers (among other technology-rich positions.) In my roles, I’ve taught computer science and spread the passion, beauty, joy, and awe of computing to teachers and students alike. But now, my mission as a recruiter for the College of Technology at Purdue University is to recruit students into career paths that will be fulfilling to them. And I tell you what… it isn’t easy. You would think that the prevalence of jobs and the upswing in media coverage regarding technology-based careers would allow academic programs the luxury of sitting back with open arms, ready to bring the masses into the fold. However, that is not happening. If it were that easy, I’d probably run myself out of a job.

But here is what I do see… I see students who are looking to find a career in something they already like to do. I see students who gravitate toward what they know and with which they have had an encounter. I see students who make their career choices because of what their parents do. I see students who make career choices because of what their peers do. I see students value the input of adults in their lives- but mostly with constant and consistent forward propelling messages.

So what does that have to do with us? A lot. The biggest recruiting tool I’ve seen to date when a student is considering a career choice is the valued input and encouragement from adults and peers. As a recruiter, I can sell the praises of a particular program for hours- telling all about student success stories, potential earnings, and companies who hire and their respective cultures, but it doesn’t matter if there is no experience to back it up. Students are seldom going to choose something they have not had exposure to or that their parents/adult mentors do not understand. That’s where we come in. Not only do we need to create those experiences for students to explore computer science at all ages, we really need to create those opportunities for the parents and adult mentors to explore it also. Let’s work to educate EVERYONE about the power of computer science and technology. Let’s create those experiences for students and parents alike. And let’s capture the stories of those parents who are currently in the field and ask them what they love about what they do and how they plan to encourage their children and others to consider these careers. Then we can truly make an impact on the number of students considering pathways into computer science and other technology fields.