News
28 September 2007
Brookes pioneers new 'business savvy' IT course
Oxford Brookes is one of 12 universities pioneering a new type of IT course designed to give students the competitive edge.
With more and more employers looking for IT graduates with broader skills, the Information Technology Management in Business degree develops students’ social and business skills along with their technical skills.
Business understanding, leadership, teamworking, project management and communication are just some of the areas covered.
Dr Bob Champion, who has introduced the course at Brookes, said: “Students can find it difficult when they go out on work placement and suddenly have to work in a team with some who are technical and others who are not. They need to talk in business rather than IT terms and present key ideas on a project to non-technical people. It’s those kind of interpersonal and project skills that this course really emphasises.”
He added: “We want to continue to improve students’ employability. When employers look at the course and see what the students have studied, they’re going to find this group much more attractive, particularly if they’ve done the placement year.”
Within the industry there is a significant imbalance between the genders with women very much in the minority. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that only 20 per cent of computing degree students are female. Dr Champion believes the new course will appeal to more women and contribute to improving this situation.
The degree has been designed by e-skills, a government-funded skills organisation for IT in partnership with leading employers.
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