A new survey out this week shows some eye-opening statistics for Silicon Valley parents with dot-com jobs - your kids are not going to follow in your footsteps.

And of those students not planning on technology careers, a substantial number have negative perceptions of these professions. Some 39 percent said that high-tech careers are uninteresting, while 25 percent said these jobs are intimidating.

Consulting firm A.T. Kearney and Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network compiled the survey of some 2,500 students between grades 8 and 11 in late 2000. The results will be published as a part of the 2002 Workforce Study: Connecting Today's Youth with Tomorrow's Technology Careers. The group presented its findings Thursday at DeAnza College in the heart of Silicon Valley.

The plan calls for stronger bonds between students and high-tech career opportunities, especially among Hispanic students and female students.

"We need to increase students' affinity for high-tech careers in order to both prevent future workforce shortages in the Valley and prepare today's youth to be full participants in the region's economic future," says Praveen Madan, Principal A.T. Kearney's Silicon Valley office and leader of the 2002 Workforce Study. "Simply providing access to technology - something 99 percent of the students' surveyed already say they have -- is clearly not enough. Businesses, civic leaders and educators must work to increase students' exposure to and understanding of technology professions."

Madan and his associates suggest fully developing the Silicon Valley's homegrown pool of high-tech talent to address its persistent high-tech "workforce gap."

"The future of Silicon Valley rests in its people and in its communities. We need to tap their energy and provide them with opportunities to create, produce, learn, express and connect," says Plugged In executive director Magda Escobar.

The study indicates that the workforce gapwhich includes unfilled positions, people actively recruited from outside of the Bay Area and workers who must commute to work from areas outside of the Valleygrew to almost 40 percent of the high-tech sector's labor demand during the boom of the late 1990s. Even in 2001, in the midst of the recent economic downturn, the workforce gap equaled 25 percent of the labor market demand.

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"The digital divide is not just about access to technology. It's about access to education and careers," says San Jose State University president Robert Caret.

The group says the need for Silicon Valley businesses to look beyond the Valley for high-tech workers costs local firms an estimated $2-3 billion annually in hiring expenses, decreased productivity, delayed product launches, lost sales, salary premiums, and turnover costs.

While these costs have fallen significantly from October 2000 when they were estimated at $6-7 billion, they remain a significant issue for the region. In addition, the shortage of local high-tech labor contributes to the various environmental, infrastructure and social impacts that result from workers having to drive long distances to jobs in the Valley.

"The study emphasizes that a cooperative regional effort is needed to expand the social networks that connect young people with the Silicon Valley jobs of tomorrow," says Rebecca Guerra, Vice President, Worldwide Human Resources at Riverstone Networks and a member of the Joint Venture Board of Directors. "We must ensure that young people of all backgrounds have access to accurate, reliable information on high-tech careers and have relationships with role models and other adults who can provide valuable career-related guidance."

Among the other findings, the group found:

* Sixty-one percent of Hispanic students reported having some understanding of two or more high-tech professions, compared with 80 percent of African American students, 79 percent of Asian students and 76 percent of White students.

* Females were only about half as likely as males (23 percent vs. 42 percent) to report wanting to pursue a high-tech career. In addition, 78 percent of male students said they were familiar with at least two high-tech professions, compared with only 68 percent of female students.

* Students whose parents are both in high-tech careers are more likely to be interested in technology careers themselves. In addition, more than three-quarters of students (83 percent) rely on personal connections for career-related information and guidance, although students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to do so.

* Two-thirds of students reported that they obtain career information from mass media (television, the Internet, books, magazines, etc.), which often portray technology workers in an unflattering and unrealistic light.