Making the link: STEM study and the digital creative industries



Research carried out for a review of the video games and visual effects industries shows a lack of knowledge amongst young people, parents and teachers of the importance of STEM study to access careers in these fields. The Livingstone-Hope Skills Review, expected in early 2011, will make recommendations to Government on how the UK can become the best source of talent in the world for the video games and visual effects industries.

Visual effects is the fastest growing sector in the UK film industry, with companies generating an annual turnover of £376 million and employing more than 5,000 people. The UK's video games sector generates £2 billion in global sales each year. Skill shortages are often cited as a major barrier to growth.

Surveys undertaken by IPSOS-MORI on behalf of NESTA (National Endowment of Science, Technology and the Arts) report that:

  • Only 3 per cent of 11-18 year olds, 7 per cent of parents, and 15 per cent of teachers recognise maths as the most important subject necessary for a career in video games.
  • Only 4 per cent of young people, 10 per cent of parents, and 13 per cent of teachers report maths as the most important school subject for the visual effects industry.
  • Only 1 per cent of teachers think physics is most important for a career in video games.
  • 30 per cent of young people, 18 per cent of parents, and 44 per cent of teachers report ICT as the most important school subject to pursue a career in video games.

These findings underline industry concerns about the need for maths and physics to succeed in particular digital creative industries. The view that ICT is the most important school subject for video games and visual effects industries is also of concern. There is growing evidence that ICT in schools does not meet the needs of the computing industry, because of an emphasis in the curriculum on use of data handling and presentation ICT packages, rather than teaching programming. The Royal Society is currently leading a study in this area, Computing in schools and its importance and implications for the economic and scientific wellbeing of the UK, which will report later in 2011.

Further information regarding the IPSOS-MORI study is available from the NESTA website.

Further details of the Computing in schools study are available from the Royal Society website.

The National STEM Centre eLibrary includes a short video clip for young people on the career of a video games developer.

Further reading

  • 1. 'Sony UK boss Ray Maguire has urged the government, educators and the private sector to adopt games into the national curriculum "relatively quickly."

    "The time is right now to do it," he told the audience at the Learning Without Frontiers conference in London today.'

    Read more.
  • 2. 'Elite creator David Braben has strongly criticised the current digital national curriculum in the UK.
    Referring to his own self-taught programming skills on Acorn Electrons and BBC Micros, he worried that today "the equivalent kid to me would probably hate ICT and therefore probably be put off computers for good."

    Read more.


News

Subscribe to our news RSS feed