Some good news on the international technology front: there has been a large increase in the number of students taking undergraduate computer science and engineering courses in the US and Canada. And Irish colleges have been experiencing similar trends.
Enrolment in these degree programmes in North America is up for the first time since the “dot.com” crash in the early part of the decade. It is the biggest increase in six years.
The Computing Research Association (CRA) polled 192 universities for its annual survey last autumn, and found that enrolment for computer science majors in the US increased by 8.1% from 2007 to 2008.
Better pay
Previously declines in the numbers of science and engineering students have been described as a “canary-in-a-coal-mine” indicator – reflecting the country’s ability to compete in the global economy.
“The fact that computer science graduates usually find themselves in high-paying jobs accounts for part of the reversal,” says the Chair of the CRA, Professor Peter Lee.
According to the United States Department of Labor, computer science graduates earn 13% more than the average college graduate.
“Increasingly students are also attracted to the intellectual depth and societal benefits of computing technology,” Professor Lee says.
Irish trends
Last November the Higher Education Authority (HEA) reported similar trends in Ireland. Early indications were of a significant increase in the uptake of third-level places in computing and science in the latest academic year.
Honours degree (level 8) computing programmes saw 1,005 students take places in 2008, up from 946 the previous year.
It’s the first time since the “dot.com” crash that the numbers starting computing degree courses in Ireland have topped 1,000. There have also been increases in student take-up of level 6 and 7 science and computing courses.
For honours degree (level 8) science programmes, 2,958 students took up first-year places last year, the highest number ever, up by 19% from 2,484 in 2007.
And the latest CAO application figures show that demand for higher level science degrees is up by 20%.
‘A webified world’
Reacting to the CRA survey in North America, Andrew Nusca of the business and technology news service ZDNet.com wrote: “No longer is computer science considered a career filled with the drudgery of staring at computer monitors and writing endless lines of code.
“Now, computer science skills are increasingly seen as the foundation for a variety of careers in a webified world.”
The CRA represents over 200 North American academic departments of computer science, as well as research labs and professional societies in North America.
Learn more
Download the full CRA report (PDF, 455 KB)
