Is Biomedical Science a good career to get into?

As someone considering applying for computer science at a university, how concerned should I be about career prospects as you get older in an industry that notoriously shuns older workers?

• I am currently in secondary school in the UK (equivalent to high school in USA), and am weighing up different options for university courses. One area in which I have always had a strong interest in is Computer Science. Therefore, I have been considering this seriously as an option (though have not decided on it). I also have a very strong interest in Physics and Maths, as well as Chemistry (though to a lesser degree). My main concern, however, are the long term career prospects. A quick Google about careers for CS graduates suggests that the technology industry as a whole has a large degree of bias towards younger workers. Whilst this may or may not be justifiable for the industry, I am more concerned about the prospects for me should I decide to have a career in this industry. I have established that the employment opportunities and mean wage for graduates is excellent. However, as I understand it, many software and hardware engineers as young as 40 have had issues getting a job in technology. Whilst this is over 20 years away for me, I do feel that this is something to be concerned about, especially if I am to spend so much money on higher education to get this degree and enter this industry. Although I am not sure how big an impact this will have on my prospects, I am aiming to get into the very top universities in the UK - namely Cambridge (UK) University as my first choice and Imperial College as my second - third, fourth and fifth choices are as of yet undecided. I have been assured by my school (which has much experience getting students into these universities) that I should be able to make it into one of these Universities. So my question really is: how concerned should I be about this issue? From your experience, is this ageism really something I need to worry about? Thanks everyone!

• Answer:

  So, I hate the age discrimination culture in technology, but let me step back and say: don't worry about it. Not now, at least. Here's why: The picture will be different in 20 years. These things change. A large number of people are in the process of being burned right now by wealthy, young, white men who seem smart, talk a good game, and are building terrible businesses (see: Clinkle). Perhaps that will push the ageism pendulum the other way. Thirty years ago, age discrimination favored the old. This industry is bound to see substantial change and I don't think it's reasonable to avoid studying CS because you fear there might be ageism in two decades. Most other careers are just as bad. The ageism didn't exist when software had an R&D culture. It inherited that from the mainstream business culture, which is even more superficial and ageist. If you're 40, Harvard Business School probably isn't an option. Starting over in investment banking certainly isn't an option. Law is fairly ageist, too. The lucrative "biglaw" jobs hire at 24-29 and spit you out after about eight years, if you don't make partner. Software has an ageist up-or-out culture because it's run by managers, not engineers. That could change. It's inefficient and (agh) "ripe for disruption". Or it might not. But except in comparison to well-managed true professions (medicine, actuarial science) software's ageism isn't unusual. When private-sector politicians (i.e. "professional" managers or executives) run the show, the going assumption becomes that everyone wants to be a manager and that over-40 non-managers (except highly-paid consultants) are failures. This trait of the industry may change, we may get that R&D culture back, or we may not. Even if we don't, we won't have more of an ageism problem than the rest of the business world. Venture capital distorts the picture. The age discrimination problem is most prominent in the "sexy" businesses that get lots of "tech press" coverage, but that's just a flashy sideshow, and most of that's not real technology. It's old-style, MBA-culture marketing that uses a bit of technology. Those companies tend to have shitty cultures and a "Don't trust anyone over 30" mentality. In general, I say, "fuck 'em". Good jobs don't get harder to find with age. It's true. High-quality employers don't care how old you are. If anything, good jobs get easier to find as you get older, because you have skills and you're better at finding your tribe. That's the good news. The bad news? Well, sometimes you just need an income, and crappy jobs are usually preferable to no job and no income. Finding stopgap jobs gets harder as you get older, because you're overqualified, and you're less mobile (kids, house) and have more expenses. But I think that, for quality jobs, age isn't a disadvantage. For high-quality jobs, people of sufficient talent are in short supply and no one cares how old you are. It's low-quality jobs (and crappy companies) that get hung up on age, because it's easier to exploit kids than adults.