students exposed to computing as a discipline on its own or as a first-class contributor to or enabler of multidisciplinary work. We elaborate on the data and the causes of declining Canadian CS enrollment in a separate report. ³

Looking ahead

Canadian universities have reacted to declining CS enrollment through recruitment programs, a new area for CS, along with innovative educational programs. These efforts include outreach, variations on first-year courses, joint programs with other disciplines, special adaptation to teaching and learning environments, and more focus on recruiting and retaining students. However, they have not been sufficient. Needed still is a concerted and coordinated Canadian national action plan among the public, private, and education sectors.

An October 2007 IBM Centre for Advanced Studies conference workshop ( www-927.ibm.com/ibm/cas/ cascon_main/) provided a brainstorming opportunity for 100 industry partners (organized into 10 groups) from throughout Canada, federal and provincial government leaders, CS professors and department chairs, and high school educators. Just as there is no single explanation for declining enrollment, there is no single remedy. The workshop identified the responsibilities all participants needed to accept to restore CS enrollment.

Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories have constitutional responsibility for education at all levels, while the federal government focuses on the national health of industry sectors. Thus, federal and provincial responses to boost CS enrollment must differ. The brainstorming workshop ( morning session) produced a “top 10” list of directions that might help mitigate the decline:

˲ Change the high-school curriculum and pedagogy;

˲ Change the university curriculum and pedagogy;

˲ Use and promote co-op internships and role models more broadly;

˲ Improve students’ perceptions of CS as a discipline;

˲ Develop a national advertising and awareness campaign;

˲ Engage a national society to lobby

all must focus
on changing the
public’s perception
of the industry and
its employment
opportunities
and adapt the
cs curricula to
remain engaging
and relevant for all
canadian students.

Canadian federal and provincial governments and function as a repository of teaching resources;

˲ Win the commitment of the provincial ministers of education to address the specific challenges in CS education at a joint meeting of ministers;

˲ Change university admission policies to recognize CS as a formal part of the academic high school curriculum;

˲ Recruit and retain more students in CS ; and

˲ Leverage the interest of high school and university students already in CS to develop new and engaging programs.

The afternoon session developed action plans for each item in each sector:

Private sector. The private sector must promote the demand, availability, and diversity of employment opportunities. It also must set the standards for salaries that, in part, fueled the earlier rush to ICT by some students. These factors make it the most logical and effective sector to spearhead promotion of ICT to the public. The private sector must also help fund the activities that are needed to promote ICT, requiring financial, in-kind, and time commitments from industry partners. The private sector also includes the role models most able to demonstrate success in the ICT sector to which students and their parents can relate and aspire.

The curricular advice from industry partners must also emphasize the interest of the ICT sector as a whole rather than as specific to individual companies or specializations. These partners must help introduce new models of education that leverage and value the hands-on experience available through centers like the IBM Centre for Advanced Studies ( www-927.ibm.com/ ibm/cas/) and the Business Objects (an SAP company) Advanced Academic Research Centre (labs.businessobjects. com/arc/).

Public sector. As with the private sector, the public sector must also support the activities that promote ICT, especially at the federal level, whether through financial support, in-kind contributions, or information. The federal government, through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada ( www.nserc.gc.ca/index. htm) and other research agencies, must also increase its funding for CS research to create and sustain dynamic projects