Massachusetts: Local radio station WGBH estimates only 1% of Massachusetts students are taking a computer class that will get students ready for the Future of Work.
WGBH – Boston TV station
A friend’s daughter was interviewing at a bank. The hiring manager asked the applicant what languages she knows? The applicant listed Italian, French, German, and a little Mandarin. The interviewer stared and said: ‘Software’.
College Board, (folks who bring you the SAT’s), came up with the key to college, work and even life success:
“.. if you want to be an empowered and adaptive worker or artist or writer or scientist or teacher — and be able to shape the world around you, and not just be shaped by it — you need to know how computers work and how to shape them.”[i]
Software runs most business, life, and work processes. Knowing how to code is a key skill for your employability regardless of what you do. If you don’t believe this, here’s a statistic. In America, 49% of postings in the quartile of occupations with the highest pay are for jobs requiring coding skills. Over the past five years, demand for data analysts has grown by 372%; within that segment, demand for data-visualization skills has shot up by 2,574%.[ii]
Python has evolved into a must-know language for all VUCANs. IOT, smart devices, and AI are already in our phones and will be in our clothing. Each has to be programmed. Among coders, nearly 40% use Python with another 25% wanting to learn it. Why? Python is a great gateway programming language that’s easy to use, scalable, and useful in many applications.
Here’s another thing I don’t get. Today’s BS (bachelor of science not bullsh*t) computer science grads know relatively ancient languages or can’t code. They don’t know AI, Amazon, VR (virtual reality), and AR (Augmented Reality) languages.
Work Lesson Earned: “You may think you’re wedded to your iPhone – what you really love is the bewitching code that lies within it.”[iii] If you’re not a geek, fake one till you make it, because sooner than later you’ll be working for one.
[i] ‘The Two Codes Your Kids Need to Know, New York Times, February 12, 2019.
[ii] ‘Learning and Earning’, Economist, January 14, 2017.
[iii] ‘Middle-Aged People Learn To Code’, Economist, June July 2018.