Slashdot Mirror
Computer Science Major Is Cool Again
netbuzz sends along a piece from Network World reporting that the number of computer science majors enrolled at US universities increased for the first time in six years, according to new survey data out this morning. The Taulbee Study found that the number of undergraduates signed up as computer science majors rose 8% last year. The survey was conducted last fall, just as the economic downturn started to bite. The article notes the daunting competition for positions at top universities: Carnegie Mellon University received 2,600 applications for 130 undergrad spots, and 1,400 for 26 PhD slots. "...the popularity of computer science majors among college freshmen and sophomores is because IT has better job prospects than other specialties, especially in light of the global economic downturn. ... The latest unemployment numbers for 2008 for computer software engineers is 1.6%... That's beyond full employment. ... The demand for tech jobs may rise further thanks to the Obama Administration's stimulus package, which could create nearly 1 million new tech jobs."
the popularity of computer science majors among college freshmen and sophomores is because IT has better job prospects than other specialties
How does that make it cool? It sounds more like desperation.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
Now that the financial industry is in shambles (what do they produce, again?) the only way to make bank without sacrificing the 8 to 12 years of your youth to med school or law school is engineering. And since most people are now familiar with computers, software engineering seems more accessible.
This makes perfect sense. Engineers make more money than any other Bachelors degrees can get you. Many students don't realize that it is damn hard to get an engineering degree compared to other degrees, though. At least, that's true of good colleges.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
Data mining is not a basic principle, and programming is to computer science what algebra is to mathematics.
Harsha says computer science majors are critical for the U.S. economy because their training provides them with computational thinking and problem solving skills that they can deploy in any industry.
So does: physics, chemistry, engineering, math, accounting....
"The primary reason for the downturn in computer science majors was the erroneous fear that everything was being outsourced to India, which we know is not true," says Prof. Jerry Luftman, executive director of the School of Technology Management at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.
Really? Tell that to IBM.
The lobbying group TechAmerica says computer software engineering and computer systems design are the fastest-growing high tech jobs, even in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Who is this "TechAmerica"? The lobbying group TechAmerica says computer software engineering and computer systems design are the fastest-growing high tech jobs, even in the fourth quarter of 2008. Oh, I see. So, corps want more H1-Bs, I take it and they're setting up the public opinion to be more open to it in these troubling times.
The whole article keeps mentioning "IT","IT","IT" and only once did they say something mobile devices. I wish they would say exactly what area of IT is booming.
This article is nothing but fluff.
"In other words, for the type of *real programmer* who isn't on a team and does everything from Requirements Gathering to QA (and everything in between) your job is STILL threatened by outsourcing."
What sort of a real programmer isn't on a team these days?
Any serious sized project has a team. And believe me, good software engineers are still very sought after.
I feel for the hotshot larval geek that's been programming since he was in the single digits, knows 3-4 operating systems, and can put together a computer in 15 minutes while getting a blowjob and having a gun pointed at his head, who is going to enroll in a CS program and find out he knows fuckall about "computer science."
Lest I get modded down for being an elitist prick, I'm not bashing those kids. I *am* one (although too old to be a kid). It's all downhill from Discrete Math...
We on Slashdot think so?
Me: "I'm sorry Miss, but there will be no cutting."
She: "But Dmomo, I don't just want to be with your CS Degree, I love you for you. Let me push your stack."
Me: "Typical story. Get to the end of the Lady Queue... I'm a FIFO man"
She: "Swoon"
Full employment is defined as around 5% unemployment. This is made up of frictional unemployment, people between jobs or looking for their first one, structural unemployment, people whose skills are obsolete, and cyclical unemployment, unemployment due to the ebb and flow of the business cycle.
All your base are belong to Wii.
I love learning but am sick of institutionalized education. The problem is the right way to do education is incredibly expensive, incredibly time-consuming, but if we had proper priorities as a society, would be seen as completely worth it. At this point, only idiots or saints would go into a career in education. There's no money in it, and I'm not talking about enough money to become a rich bastard, I'm talking about enough money to avoid poverty.
I'm not quite sure what the right solution is yet but I'm wondering if it might not be a good idea to start on the Young Lady's Primer. We've certainly made some advancements on the sort of technology that would be required.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
While interest in the field is good, there are still some major barriers to entry that need to be considered.
1. Unlike previous downturns, we currently have tons of IT/CS people out of work. I'm very lucky to have work; according to all my colleagues, hiring is extremely limited, especially in large public companies. In addition, competition for these jobs is incredibly tough.
2. Outsourcing has not gone away. IBM's a perfect example, as are many of the other professional services firms. India is rapidly moving up the food chain, and even advanced dev jobs are moving elsewhere very quickly. The best strategy is to get involved with a small company who doesn't have the resources to manage an outsourcing engagement.
3. A corollary to #2 - Lots of companies are "discovering" they don't need an IT department anymore. Most of the programming jobs will be for vendors, if the whole "cloud computing" fad turns out to be more than a fad.
4. Don't assume you can choose where you work, if that's important to you. Companies are shifting their support functions to cheaper locations within the US, so keep that in mind unless you don't care about living in Boston vs. Omaha.
So, as always IT and programming are fun fields to be in, but just keep in mind that the employment prospects are still unstable. If you're the kind who doesn't mind bouncing from one 6-month contract to another, you'll do fine. Full time work might be harder to come by.
Data mining and databases aren't really the same thing (although mining is often performed on databases). Data mining is actually pretty similar to AI: it involves tasks such as classification, clustering, and feature extraction that require constructing statistical models and learning about the dataset in question. The techniques involve more linear algebra and statistics than many CS undergrads will take. Moreover, mining isn't explicitly demanded in industry (certainly not at the level that programming is, at least). I suspect most people are unaware of it.
Maybe so, but I have to get to work, so if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you could go ahead and put $20 on pump #3
man, where is my +1 awesome.... ;) Need we remind people of how many movies are made about our jobs...hackers, sneakers, swordfish, several TV channels, Entire clothing lines, not to mention the gadgets we were ridiculed for carrying around 10-20 years ago are the fashion accessories of today. Ya, we are not cool...
CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
Agreed. In a Venn diagram of who would benefit the most from a simpler tax code and those who are in the position to make that a reality, there's a tiny bit of overlap with maybe two dudes in it.
I traded all my mod points for these magic beans.
I don't think I want to be associated with Swordfish. You should have mentioned Office Space, though.