THE PROBLEM:
In 1995, the NWCET received a grant from the National Science Foundation to set up an Advanced Technology Education Center for Information Technology. One of the most important mandates of the grant is Student Recruitment and Retention. Information Technology was facing and continues to face a worker shortage. There are a number of significant reasons for this lack of well-qualified professionals.
First, the IT field is the fastest growing employment field in the US. The Information Technology Association of America estimates that there are approximately 190, 000 unfilled jobs in IT because of a lack of skilled employees. Second, middle and high school students do not have adequate access to career education that explains the diverse range of jobs available in IT. Third, IT suffers from a "geek image" problem. Even well-informed students do not think of it as an attractive or glamorous career. Finally, recent research conducted by the NWCET and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.(IEEE) finds that teachers are unprepared to educate students about careers in IT.
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