ACT Survey Finds Mismatch Between Employer Needs and Student Ambitions

August 26, 1998

IOWA CITY—Employers searching high and low for computer programmers and analysts, take note: new data from 60 percent of the nation’s college freshmen suggest the problem may be deeper and last longer than you think.

Only about 3.5 percent of the approximately 1 million 1998 high school graduates who took ACT’s college entrance exam picked computer and information sciences as their primary vocational choice, according to ACT’s 1998 National Data Release. The U.S. Department of Labor, meanwhile, is predicting that the number of jobs in these fields will more than double by 2006, compounding a shortage that is already estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.

What careers do students want? Health care, business, education and the social sciences were the top picks, even though job growth is expected to be slower in those categories—and starting salaries lower—than in computer fields. New computer science graduates are landing jobs that average $41,500 in annual salaries, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

"Students’ career aspirations seem to be somewhat out of sync with the jobs that will be available for many of them," said ACT President Richard L. Ferguson. "Large numbers are interested in entering crowded fields, where the openings may decrease or grow slowly in the coming years, while fields that are projected to see major growth don’t appear to be attracting students."

The reasons for the apparent mismatch may include everything from a lack of realistic information about computer careers to unflattering images of computer professionals and their jobs. The excellent market for college graduates in many fields is likely a factor, as is an underlying concern that the intense demand for programmers may go into reverse in the long run, as programming becomes more automated.

The data were obtained from a questionnaire that high school students completed when they registered to take the ACT Assessment. About 60 percent of America’s entering college freshmen take the exam.