Communications - July 2008

Vviewpoints

DOI: 10.1145/1364782.1364793

Image Crisis
Inspiring a New Generation
of Computer Scientists

Consider what you can do to encourage young people to pursue technology-related career paths.

IS COMPUTER SCIENCE a dying profession? That may seem like an odd question. After all, computers are omnipresent in our day-to-day lives. Their importance to the way we run our businesses, communicate, and use information has never been greater. Computing is an essential tool for discovery and advancement in virtually every field of science. And as we move forward, computing holds the key to progress in almost every human endeavor.

And yet the fact remains that, in the U.S. at least, computer science as a profession is beginning to wither away.

There is ample evidence to support this conclusion. A recent UCLA survey found that in 2006, barely 1% of incoming freshman planned to major in computer science, compared with nearly 5% 25 years ago. According to the most recent version of the Computer Research Association’s annual Taulbee report, just 12,498 computer science and computer engineering degrees were awarded last year, a one-year drop of almost 20%. Even more alarming, total undergraduate enrollment in computer science and computer engineering has fallen 50% during the past five years, to just 46,000 students.

All this comes at a time when demand for computer scientists is stronger than it has been for many years. Today, IT employment is 17% higher than it was at the height of the dot-com bubble. According to the U.S.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, we will add an annual average of 100,000 new computer-related jobs through 2014, with careers in computer science the fastest-growing of all “professional and related occupations.”

These numbers actually understate the severity of the problem. Enrollment in computer science and computer engineering programs in the U.S. consists of a disproportionate number of foreign-born students, particularly at the graduate level: last year, more than half of master’s and doctoral degrees granted by U.S. universities were awarded to non-U. S. citizens. Thanks to a combination of security restrictions here and increasing job opportunities in their home countries, fewer numbers of these students are choosing to remain in the U.S. to work.

Left unchecked, these trends will inevitably undermine our ability to compete in the global economy. For decades, the ability of U.S. companies to transform innovations into successful businesses has been the foundation for our economic growth. Technologies such as the microprocessor, the Internet, and fiber optics that were developed by scientists and engineers trained in U.S. universities laid the foundation for new industries that generated millions of high-paying jobs.

But if the number of young people in the U.S. who study computer science continues to decline, the center of gravity for innovation will shift to countries where students flock to uni-

versities to pursue degrees in the technical fields that will enable tomorrow’s breakthroughs.

As head of Microsoft Research, I am acutely aware of the impact that the shortage of computer professionals can have. Although the majority of our researchers are based in the U.S. and these facilities continue to grow, we are expanding our research facilities in other parts of the world, in part because we recognize that this may be the only way we can continue to find and hire the world’s top computer scientists. I also see the increasing difficulty that Microsoft has in filling positions that require a high level of training and skill in computer science and engineering.

And, as co-chair of the Image of Computing Task Force with Jim Foley of Georgia Tech, I am committed to working with colleagues from industry, academia, and government to understand why interest in computer science is declining in the U.S. and learn what we can do to encourage young people to pursue technology-related careers. Founded by Foley, and based at the University of Colorado in Boulder, the Image of Computing Task Force is spearheading a national effort to help young people recognize the vital role that computing plays in almost every field and see the opportunities that come with a solid background in computer science.