Decreasing Enrollments Increasing Manpower Needs: Solutions for Attracting Students to Computer Scie

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Decreasing Enrollments / Increasing Manpower
NeedsSolutions for Attracting Students to
Computer Science

• Wayne Summers / Rodrigo Obando
• TSYS Department of Computer Science
• Columbus State University
• November 17, 2006

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• Decreasing Enrollments
• Increasing Manpower Needs

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Undergraduate CS enrollments 2002-2005

• The number of new undergraduate majors dropped
  another 21, from 15,950 to 12,532 (see Figure
  7).
• This follows last years 10 drop in new majors
  and a 23 drop the year before that.
• Accounting for the fact that more departments are
  reporting to the survey now than did three years
  ago, we effectively have seen a halving of the
  number of new majors entering our programs over a
  three-year period.
• Total enrollment in Bachelor's programs is down
  nearly 14 from last year and 30 compared to
  three years ago.
• Taulbee Survey (http//www.cra.org/CRN/articles/m
  ay06/taulbee.html)

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Undergraduate CS enrollments 1995-2005
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The U.S. ranks 17th in the world for ratio of
science and engineering degrees.
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Undergraduate CS enrollments 2002-2005

• it is not yet clear when the decline in our
  undergraduate program enrollments will end.
• The double-digit percent decrease in bachelors
  production observed this year is likely to
  continue for the next several years. 
• Nationwide, only one-quarter of 1 percent of
  incoming freshmen women listed computer science
  as a probable major, according to a 2004 survey
  from the Higher Education Research Institute at
  UCLA. Thats down from a high of 4.25 in the
  mid-1980s.
• Taulbee Survey (http//www.cra.org/CRN/articles/m
  ay06/taulbee.html)

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Undergraduate CS enrollments 2002-2005

• Coupled with the declining representation of
  women in our undergraduate programs, our ability
  to produce a workforce that is sufficiently
  educated technically to meet the needs of the job
  market in computing is being severely challenged.
  
• Taulbee Survey (http//www.cra.org/CRN/articles/m
  ay06/taulbee.html)
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated in 2004
  that 1.5 million new computer and IT-related jobs
  are expected to be added to the nations
  workforce by 2012.

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WHY?

• The decrease in enrollments seems to be driven by
  two major factors
• misinformation in the popular media
• lack of means to motive students in our schools

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Myth 1 Software Jobs Have Disappeared

• There was a slight dip in IT-sector employment
  after 2000.
• Recent data show that this trend has reversed,
  and that there are now more jobs in this sector
  than at any time in history.
• Projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
  indicate strong growth over the next decade

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IT Jobs Outlook Brightens

• The study found that, despite intensifying
  competition, offshoring between developed and
  developing countries can benefit both parties.
  The study cited data from the U.S. Bureau of
  Labor Statistics (BLS) which indicates that more
  IT jobs are available today in the U.S. than at
  the height of the dot com boom. This trend is
  evident despite a significant increase in
  offshoring over the past five years. In fact,
  U.S. IT employment in 2004 was 17 higher than in
  1999, and the BLS data reveals that IT jobs are
  predicted to be among the fastest-growing
  occupations over the next decade.
• Globalization and Offshoring of Software (A
  Report of the ACM Job Migration Task Force) -
  http//www.acm.org/globalizationreport/

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The 10 fastest-growing jobs between now and
2014http//money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/next
jobboom/
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Top 10 best jobshttp//money.cnn.com/magazines/mo
neymag/bestjobs/

• MONEY Magazine and Salary.com researched hundreds
  of jobs, considering their growth, pay,
  stress-levels and other factors. These careers
  ranked highest.
• 1. Software Engineer
• 2. College professor
• 7. Computer IT analyst

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IT Salaries Remain High
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Model Curriculum for K12 Computer Science

• Computer science is an established discipline at
  the collegiate and post-graduate levels. Oddly,
  the integration of computer science concepts into
  the K12 curriculum has not kept pace in the
  United States. As a result, the general public is
  not as well educated about computer science as it
  should be, and a serious shortage of information
  technologists at all levels exists and may
  continue into the foreseeable future.
• http//www1.acm.org/education/k12/k12final1022.pdf

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SOLUTIONS

• Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)
• Teacher Enrichment in Computer Science (TECS)
  workshops
• Java Engagement for Teacher Training (JETT)
• Alice Workshops for Middle School students
• Revised Curriculum
• Game Programming
• Information Technology
• Other Outreach Activities

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Computer Science Teachers Association

• The Computer Science Teachers Association is a
  membership organization that supports and
  promotes the teaching of computer science and
  other computing disciplines. CSTA provides
  opportunities for K-12 teachers and students to
  better understand the computing disciplines and
  to more successfully prepare themselves to teach
  and learn.
• http//csta.acm.org/

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CSU and the CSTA

• Teacher Enrichment in Computer Science (TECS)
• Teacher Engagement for Computer Science (TECS) -
  September 25, 2006
• Understanding and Building Basic Networks -
  November 14, 2006
• Having Fun with Computers January 25, 2007
• Programming Basic Applications March 20, 2007
• Computer Game Programming 5/2007
• Java Engagement for Teacher Training (JETT)

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Alice Workshops for Middle School
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Revised Curriculum

• Game Programming
• Information Technology
• ABET
• Robotics
• Other Ideas?

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Outreach Activities

• Computer Programming Competition
• Web Development Competition
• Speakers Bureau
• Raise Awareness
• In-service Workshops
• Summer Camps

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Resources

• The New Educational Imperative Improving High
  School Computer Science Education Computer
  Science and the National Competitiveness Debate -
  http//csta.acm.org/Publications/Publications.html
  
• ACM K-12 CS Model Curriculum http//csta.acm.org/C
  urriculum/sub/k12final1022.pdf
• CSTA Web Repository of K-12 Computer Science
  Teaching Resources http//csta.acm.org/Resources/s
  ub/WebRepository.html
• Software Globalization and Employment by eminent
  Stanford computer science scholar Eric Roberts

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Resources

• Teacher Enrichment in Computer Science Workshops
  (TECS) - http//tecs.acm.org/
• JETT - http//jett.acm.org/
• K-12Linux Project - http//www.k12ltsp.org/
• Partners in Learning, Microsoft
  -http//www.microsoft.com/education/partnersinlear
  ning.mspx
• Resources for Teachers from CSTA and IBM -
  http//csta.acm.org/Resources/sub/RecommendedResou
  rces.html
• IBM Academic Initiative http//ibm.com/university
  

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Resources

• New ACM brochure to advanced computing fields
  ACM-Careers-Brochure-V7.pdf
• Website referenced in brochure http//computingcar
  eers.acm.org
• NCWIT Resources on drawing more women into
  computing http//www.ncwit.org/es.undergrad.html

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Resources

• Why Choose CSE? (videos) - http//www.cs.washingto
  n.edu/education/ugrad/prospective/outreach.html
• Celebrate Computer Science Education
  http//sws.lhps.org/Default.aspx?aliassws.lhps.or
  g/computerscienceed

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http//csta.acm.org/Careers/CSTA-poster-revised.pd
f