The flava:Across the country, the number of computer science majors at doctoral institutions has more than tripled in the last decade. It’s much hotter than it was during the dot-com blitz in the late 1990s, according to the national Computing Research Association.
The article:
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/hot-major-on-campus-computer-science-20180218.html
My alma mater (an expanding small liberal arts university) used to have a "math with computer science emphasis" with only two computer science professors (one full-time, one visiting). Now the best they have is a "Mathematics/Business" degree with only one adjunct CS instructor and only two dedicated CS courses. It's a downright shame. Not even a minor in the subject.
ReplyDeleteCrisis in India’s IT sector amid mass layoffs
ReplyDeletehttp://www.arabnews.com/node/1148036/world
I attended one of the colleges mentioned in this article, long before "computer science" was a thing. I worked with a partner one time on a survey project that required data compilation, and we used punch cards. There's a whole (small) building devoted to computer science that didn't even exist when I was a student. I feel very old indeed.
ReplyDeleteWell, here in the physics department, we have more than twice as many majors as we did before the financial crisis. If this continues, in a couple years we'll have three times as many. I so enjoy being an evil mad scientist!
ReplyDeleteMUAA-HA-HAA!
Frod, are you laughing because you know none of them will find jobs once they've graduated?
DeleteAh, but ALL the physics majors find jobs when they graduate! Good jobs too, making money doing interesting things that actually do other people good, such as doing something about the problem of water here in Fresno, or making electronics or software or robots.
DeleteP.S. Now you know why whenever I'm in the physics department's booth at a job fair and some idiot comes up and says, "Oh, I would NEVER major in physics," I reply, "IT DOES REQUIRE INTELLIGENCE." Over-supply of physics majors is therefore not even close to becoming a problem, and very likely never will be.
DeleteMUA-HA-HAAA!!!
Ah, what a gratifying position in which to be!
DeleteI have to confess that, while I ended up in a decidedly non-STEM field, I loved physics in high school. Explaining the whole universe in terms of math and motion? What could be neater?
Oh, don't worry. Academia today, with modern students and corporate leadership, has an uncanny way of negating everything. For example: the infamous Fresno State "sheep incident" involved a computer science major.
DeleteThey do seem to be proliferating, at least in my writing-for-scientists classes. Students are supposed to spend some time comparing disciplines, and that's hard when 2/3 of the class is in CS.
ReplyDeleteI worry a bit, because I can remember the last time everybody was in CS -- not too long before the dot-com bubble burst.
On the other hand, programming does underlie many other activities these days, and I get the sense that a fair number of our majors are really learning not just a particular language (which will, of course, inevitably be superseded) but basic principles, strategies, skills, etc. that should serve them well.
However, I should point out that English majors are also employed at a quite a high rate (and not just as baristas -- or, for that matter, technical writers, thought that's certainly one good possibility). My particular institution's English graduates even make quite nice salaries in comparison to various nationwide averages (admittedly that probably has more to do with local cost of living and the tendency of most of our graduates to stay nearby, at least in the short run, than anything else, but still, they're supporting themselves).