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Uncovering student stereotypes: the IT student

Aila Kubat Uncovering Student Stereotypes

Five students from different studies share their thoughts on students they never met. Uncovering Student Stereotypes is back with five new (not so) typical students!

‘A nerdy person who loves to game and spend their entire day on Discord’ is the first thing that came to mind when the students thought of an IT student. But is this true?

The stereotypical IT-student
In the eyes of the interviewed students, the IT student is a smart person who:

  • ‘Games to relax’
  • ‘Wants to date an engineer in the future, so they can make the first ever robot society’
  • ‘Chose their study because they like the complexity and to solve problems’
  • ‘Is very anti-social’

The student behind the stereotype
How much did the students get right? Thijs Heerkes is a first year IT student at Hanze UAS. ‘It is true that I game during my free time and I did kind of chose my study because of my interest in solving problems and the complexity of the subjects. But I am very passionate about music, and the main reason I chose IT is because I couldn’t make a career out of my music and IT fits me pretty well.’

A nerdy person who loves to game and spend their entire day on Discord

Is there any stereotype that really doesn’t fit him? ‘Well, the stereotype about me wanting to date an engineer in the future, that’s just weird’. And what about the only remaining stereotype about IT-students being ‘very anti-social’? ‘It’s a bit complicated. For example, my class is filled with troublemakers, myself included. But if you look at others, I know they only communicate via Discord and they never really go out.’