
Computer science major is cool again, college enrollments up 8% - iamelgringo
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/031409-computer-science-majors.html?page=1
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rayvega
An important question is whether the retention rate will sustain along with
the rise of enrollment.

I'd be wary of the motivation of those now suddenly deciding to pursue a CS
degree who in a different economic climate would have chosen a different path
(e.g. investment banking, financial services, etc.)

I have a suspicion that these folks that do follow through with getting a CS
degree are really grooming themselves to hold positions in tech management
versus jobs that involve actual coding and engineering.

We saw the reverse effect at the end of the dot com era. Those that had no
real passion for technology dropped out leaving those who truly care about the
craft of programming to remain and to innovate.

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jacoblyles
A CS degree is hard. What does a fad CS major do when he runs into the
compilers or OS class?

If I were looking for a relatively easy way to make money while setting myself
up for future management opportunities then I'd study accounting, personally.

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madmanslitany
Valid point, but people who are just in it for the economics might go for
what's classed as an information science or management of information systems
degree, which are usually viewed as easier than the mainline computer science
degrees.

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eli
The _raw number_ of comp sci majors is up 8%. That doesn't mean comp sci is
"cool again." There are more people going back to school -- enrollment is up
across the board.

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biohacker42
Repeat after me, more programmers is not the same thing as better programmers.

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sqs
On balance, though, I think it's better to have _more_ people trained in CS
rather than fewer. Most of these people won't become programmers, but they
will apply CS ideas to their own professions.

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CWuestefeld
"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."

An old joke:

\- Scientists learn to ask "why does that work?".

\- Engineers learn to ask "how does that work?".

\- Accountants learn to ask "how much does it cost?".

\- Liberal arts majors learn to ask "do you want fries with that?".

So yes, maybe economic necessity is driving here.

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nazgulnarsil
so...we using "cool" for economically competitive now?

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k0n2ad
Computer science was never cool. I personally think that's cool.

