Computer Studies Are "Cool" Again

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Computer Studies Are "Cool" Again

For the first time in six years, there's been an increase in students persuing Computer Science majors. Is this a coming of new age of computing, or just people chasing the possibility of new jobs?

The Taulbee Study from the Computing Research Association (CRA), released today, shows that students are starting to show much more of an interest in computing. The study, which targeted major US universities, found that the amount of people focusing on computer science majors had increased by over 8%, with enrollment in all computing classes rising by over 6% - the first such rise since 2002.

The CRA is hoping that President Obama's stimulus package, which could create nearly 1 million new tech jobs, will bring people back to computing after the dot-com bubble burst. It also doesn't hurt that nerdy is the new cool.

"The perception that computer science is cool is spawned by all the interesting things on the Web. The iPhone and Web 2.0 reinforces the excitement, and that attracts the best students," says the CRA's Peter Harsha.

According to Professor Michael Heath, head of the Computer Science Department at the University of Illinois, "There's definitely a coolness factor. People are involved in computers in an unprecedented way...There's a more human dimension to computing than there has ever been before, so I think that's causing computing and IT as a career to appeal to a wider variety of people."

Source: Network World [http://www.networkworld.com/cgi-bin/mailto/x.cgi?pagetosend=/export/home/httpd/htdocs/news/2009/031409-computer-science-majors.html]
(Image) [http://www.jinx.com/men/shirts/geek/stop_laughing_computers_are_cool_now.html]


Permalink

 

[oliveira8]

So...now that computers are cool again..will it help me getting more girls??

 

[Neesa]

I think that people also figured that you'd have more job opportunities if you can work with computers. Which is true, somewhat since more and more businesses have computer and a lot of computer illiterate people (I should know, my job runs to me when something is wrong with their computer all the time). At least that was partly the reason why I switched from art into computer systems. But at the same token, you have to really like doing it, otherwise you might get bored or not bothered with it.

Why I switched back to art.

 

[Labyrinth]

I fucking called it.

No doubt that's worth expanding on. A while ago, several years in fact, I was talking with a friend of mine and suggested that soon Law and Medicine would drop back in numbers and computers would increase. The former was due to cost and it being overrun, the latter due to the sheer accessibility of both the market and the equipment.

 

[Ronwue]

Great... we will have more programmers with no inspiration, do application we will need for the future, just because they wanted to be cool in college... Although... I can't really complain. My faculty desperately needs girls.

 

[KDR_11k]

Well, the various companies have been pushing for more students in fields like CS since the available workers are not enough to fill the jobs that need to be done.

 

[bjj hero]

Its cool to be nerdy. Anyone watched the IT crowd? Its a British sit com and its awesome.

 

[Solo508]

Uhh, I just spent the whole damn afternoon slaving over my visual basic programming coursework for computing... save yourself!

 

[Fronken]

Wait, computers used to be un-cool? :O, Why the hell didnt anyone say anything!?

 

[Uncompetative]

What does the back of that shirt say?

Kick me.

 

[bioVOLTAGE]

Whats really sad is that I was a Computer Science major in 2002.

 

[Virgil]

There's one critical piece of information missing from the data. What was the change in overall enrollment (not just CS degrees) for the same time period? Without that piece of information, there's absolutely no evidence that CS degrees are doing better relative to other degree programs (which is what all the articles about this study seem to imply).

An increase in enrollment for CS degrees doesn't have any significant meaning if there was a similar increase in enrollment in general - that just means that more people are enrolling. Which is very likely, as that's one of the things people do when the economy isn't doing so well.

The actual study paper this is based on is available here [http://www.cra.org/taulbee/CRATaulbeeReport-StudentEnrollment-07-08.pdf] - even the source doesn't have the information.

 

[oliveira8]

There's one critical piece of information missing from the data. What was the change in overall enrollment (not just CS degrees) for the same time period? Without that piece of information, there's absolutely no evidence that CS degrees are doing better relative to other degree programs (which is what all the articles about this study seem to imply).

An increase in enrollment for CS degrees doesn't have any significant meaning if there was a similar increase in enrollment in general - that just means that more people are enrolling. Which is very likely, as that's one of the things people do when the economy isn't doing so well.

The actual study paper this is based on is available here [http://www.cra.org/taulbee/CRATaulbeeReport-StudentEnrollment-07-08.pdf] - even the source doesn't have the information.

I keep reading CS degree as Counter-Strike Degree...and not Computer Science Degree...

 

[Skizle]

Its cool to be nerdy. Anyone watched the IT crowd? Its a British sit com and its awesome.

yes it is, however it is hard to come by in the states, but i can see a lot of people that have CS degrees ending up like Jen on IT Crowd.
"if you type Google into Google, you can break the internet"

 

[roblikestoskate]

i must have this shirt.

there is a shortage of programmers in my area. this should be interesting.

 

[Abedeus]

Of course it's cool.

That's why I'm following my cousin's footsteps. He now earns more than his mother after 3 years of studies... Hell, if not for school and my age, I would be making money of idiots that can't reinstall their Windows, download new/reinstall drivers or restore a file they deleted.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Its cool to be nerdy. Anyone watched the IT crowd? Its a British sit com and its awesome.

yes it is, however it is hard to come by in the states, but i can see a lot of people that have CS degrees ending up like Jen on IT Crowd.
"if you type Google into Google, you can break the internet"

Have you tried switching it off and on again?