Hollywood Spurs Surge in Computer Science Majors – NYTimes.com
June 13, 2011 at 8:55 am 4 comments
It’s great for CS to get this kind of coverage in the NYTimes, but the assumptions in the article still bother me. Do we really know that it’s due to Hollywood that there’s a surge? Eric Roberts thinks it’s more due to people realizing that CS is a great career boost in a bad economy. And we still don’t know much about the commonality of the enrollment rise. NYtimes uses CRA data, which is robust but not pervasive — it’s high-quality data, but only about research institutions. The department closings in the last couple years suggest that not everyone is seeing enrollment increases.
Never mind that Mr. Zuckerberg, like other tech titans, did not major in computer science — or even finish college. Enrollment in computer science programs, and degrees from them, are rising after a decade of decreases, despite much handwringing about the decline of American competitiveness in technology and innovation from President Obama on down. And educators and technologists say the inspiration is partly Hollywood’s portrayal of the tech world, as well as celebrity entrepreneurs like Steven P. Jobs of Apple and Mr. Zuckerberg who make products that students use every day.
via Hollywood Spurs Surge in Computer Science Majors – NYTimes.com.
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: undergraduate enrollment.
Computing Education Research Blog 
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gasstationwithoutpumps | June 13, 2011 at 9:51 pm
My response to the article was posted at
http://gasstationwithoutpumps.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/surge-in-computer-science-majors/
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Ian Bogost | June 14, 2011 at 8:31 am
The part that terrified me was the student who called Mark Zuckerberg “glamorous.” Rich, sure. Glamorous, hardly. What a disappointment.
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Thinking Beyond the Bubble: The need for a real Sputnik moment for CS « Computing Education Blog | June 16, 2011 at 9:17 am
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