Article Commentary: Wall Street's collapse may be computer science's gain
Today I was reading the Computer World article "Wall Street's collapse may be computer science's gain" and the first thing that came to my mind is how? Just to give you a little more insight on me, if you want to get me to read an article, talk about economics and technology in it. I'm fascinated by economics and I love technology. Back to the article...
Why would students rush into Computer Science because of the problems on Wall Street?
The article mentions how finance students may run to the technology field because of the bad economic times. If the job market or economic time determines your major then
all I can say is "WOW".
I can see how young people today might have a second love for IT. Generation Y'ers grew up in the age of technology. With advance gaming consoles, iPods, cell phones, and social networking sites all becoming mainstream in their time, I can see how incoming college students would consider computer science as a major.
My concern is that students that are considering computer science are not well prepared for what they are about to get into. I fell in love with computers when I got my first Commodore 64 at the early age of 13. It was my only love. When I went to college, I had no problem deciding which field to major in. I did not read the newspapeers, check the department of labor statistics or anything. I knew it was going to be computer science. Then I was told I had to have a love for problem solving and mathematics. Do Finance majors have that? I'm not sure. My wife is a finance major and math is not her favorite subject and she does not like math word problem solving. So I don't know. But one thing I do know, computer science is a subject you have to love. It gets pretty boring at times.
There was a decline in computer science majors after the dot-com bust. People were afraid of the field because they felt in what not stable enough. But now is not the time to jump back in. The article mentions that the department of labor says there is a shortage. That's right, "SHORTAGE" of IT workers. I think its a shortage but not nearly as severe as they report. They are reporting that network admins will be severely in demand. I do not mean any harm, but network admins? I can see it somewhat due to cloud computing and WANs (movements to turn cities into hotspots) becoming increasing popular. But if anyone has not noticed, the traditional developer in on the decline in the US.
Until next time...
My first thought was "How?"
Why would students rush into Computer Science because of the problems on Wall Street?
The article mentions how finance students may run to the technology field because of the bad economic times. If the job market or economic time determines your major then
all I can say is "WOW".
My second thought was "Finance to IT? Maybe, Maybe Not."
I can see how young people today might have a second love for IT. Generation Y'ers grew up in the age of technology. With advance gaming consoles, iPods, cell phones, and social networking sites all becoming mainstream in their time, I can see how incoming college students would consider computer science as a major.
My concern is that students that are considering computer science are not well prepared for what they are about to get into. I fell in love with computers when I got my first Commodore 64 at the early age of 13. It was my only love. When I went to college, I had no problem deciding which field to major in. I did not read the newspapeers, check the department of labor statistics or anything. I knew it was going to be computer science. Then I was told I had to have a love for problem solving and mathematics. Do Finance majors have that? I'm not sure. My wife is a finance major and math is not her favorite subject and she does not like math word problem solving. So I don't know. But one thing I do know, computer science is a subject you have to love. It gets pretty boring at times.
Shortage in IT
There was a decline in computer science majors after the dot-com bust. People were afraid of the field because they felt in what not stable enough. But now is not the time to jump back in. The article mentions that the department of labor says there is a shortage. That's right, "SHORTAGE" of IT workers. I think its a shortage but not nearly as severe as they report. They are reporting that network admins will be severely in demand. I do not mean any harm, but network admins? I can see it somewhat due to cloud computing and WANs (movements to turn cities into hotspots) becoming increasing popular. But if anyone has not noticed, the traditional developer in on the decline in the US.
Until next time...
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