Gen Z uninformed about digital careers: study

Nearly half of Generation Z are not well informed about digital career pathways, according to new research.

The Digital Skills Organisation (DSO) has partnered with Year13, Australia’s largest digital platform for high school leavers, to promote digital career pathways for young people.

As part of Year13’s online-learning platform ‘Academy’, the new short course called ‘DigiSkills’ will equip Gen Z with the ‘know-how’ needed to navigate a digital technology career path in jobs like cybersecurity, product management, software engineering and data analysis.

Year13 and DSO undertook research, surveying 404 young Australians aged 15–24, to find 8% ‘definitely’ want to work in the digital sector, 19% are ‘likely’ to do so, 32% are ‘neutral’, 34% are ‘unlikely’, while 7% say ‘definitely not’. A gender breakdown found 10% of males definitely want to work in the digital industry while 27% are likely to do so, compared to 7% of females who definitely want to work in the digital industry and 15% who said they are likely to do so.

When asked what barriers they had to pursuing a career in the digital industry, 49% of Gen Zs said “I’m not sure where to start”, 45% said “I was never taught about digital careers in school”, 36% said “I’m more of a creative type and not sure it’s right for me” while 12% said a “lack of talent”.

“As the demand for people with digital skills continues to grow, there is a pressing need to open up pathways for entry-level digital talent for a broad range of school leavers. By normalising ‘digital’, digital skills pathways and shedding a light on what digital careers look like through DigiSkills Academy, we have a huge opportunity to empower young Australians to be the change makers of our future,” said DSO CEO Patrick Kidd.

Year13 co-founder and CEO Will Stubley said, “With unclear pathways, poorly informed educational guidance or the belief that a ‘geeky’ disposition is essential for a successful career in digital, young Australians are often quick to dismiss a career in this in-demand industry before knowing what it actually entails.

“As a digital-first organisation we at Year13 have seen how digital skills can make and shape a modern business and we know intimately how important and transferable these skills are across all different industries Australia-wide. We’re so happy to be leading the charge with DSO in making sure all young people know the huge potential of digital skills.”

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