The Fondazione Mondo Digitale and Google have organised four meetings to help parents orient their children, without prejudice, towards scientific careers. Role models illustrate what jobs in technology entail. Indeed, over 80% of parents seek a dialogue with experts, according to the research conducted by the fourth edition of Project CS First. Today, the first meeting will be held in the context of the final event of the Global Junior Challenge, dedicated to Linguist Tullio De Mauro.
Many parents, who have been forced to work at home by the health emergency and are connected around the clock, can’t wait to disconnect. They are worried about their children who, instead, never seem to detach themselves from tablets and smartphones. Parents who have greater difficulty understanding the digital hybridization of daily life feel unprepared and lost. The impact of digital life on these parents may condition their ability to orient their children towards sound educational and professional careers. This is one of the realities that emerges from the research conducted by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale through 1700 questionnaires and interviews with 200 parents and 10 discussion groups.
The main objective of the research project was to understand the impact of parents in the choices made by their children in terms of education and careers with reference to computer science. Are parents informed about the opportunities and development of new professional profiles in emerging technology? Are they capable of orienting their daughters overlooking gender stereotypes?
The survey indicates that parents do not feel that they can explain computer science to their children: only 3.8% feels extremely informed, 14.1% very informed, and 34.6% adequately informed, while 26.9% feel not very informed and 20.5% not informed at all. Parents often believe that studying engineering and computer science will be hard, dry and restrict their children’s social life. So, they recommend they turn to a field for which they have an “innate” talent. How can they discover their children’s true inclinations?
Parents worry about the time spent by their children on a computer and on videogames especially. Many parents are convinced that working in these sectors means leaving one’s city, region or country and wonder about the quality of life of a career in computer science. This is the reason that 81.4% would like to meet with experts and role models who can explain whether computer science is interesting and if it is a stable and long-lasting profession, its social and ethical implications, and what true opportunities it can provide for their children.
Generations On-line
Experts answer the doubts and curiosities of parents
Thursday, December 16, 2021, 6:00-7:30 pm
Innovation Gym, Via del Quadraro 102, Rome
Generations On-line begins today with the first of four events dedicated to digital citizenship and computer science organised by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale and Google to provide answers to the questions of parents and to open a dialogue on how to live with technology and orient children towards technology and computer science, discovering emerging professions.
The questions will be answered by Samuele Sciacca, CEO and Founder of Shuttle Studio, Martina Colasante, Government Affairs & Public Policy Manager for Google Italia, Giorgia Di Tommaso, Solution Architect at the ENEL Group, and Veronica Gebhardt, Computer Science Education Program Manager at Google EMEA.
The session will be introduced by Mirta Michilli, Director General of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, and moderated by Silvia Cretella, Founder and Community Manager of Instagramers Roma.
Researcher Ilaria Gaudiello will present the main results of the national survey on “Parents: Findings and Recommendations on Parents’ Knowledge and Awareness on Computer Science in Italy,” which investigated the attitudes of parents towards jobs in scientific subjects. The objective is to develop a strategy to help families understand how the working world is changing because of new developments in the digital economy, understand false myths about professions and “male careers,” and orient the new generations – especially women – with a better understanding of our world.
In order to involve as many parents and members of the educational community as possible, the first session has been integrated into the final event of the Global Junior Challenge, the international competition dedicated to Linguist Tullio De Mauro and promoted with the Centro Studi Erickson. The focus of the 10th edition is the innovative and inclusive use of technology for high-quality education during the emergency.
The next three meetings, also for parents, will address gender stereotypes and careers, computer science applied to professions, unsocial behaviour and web addiction.
