One of the things we frequently hear from our members is that kids are avoiding computer science courses because they belief that there are not any jobs. We now have more evidence that this is not the case.
Recently, the Chair of the CSTA Advisory Council, Dr. Debra Richardson, sent me this article by eWeek reporter Deborah Perelman that shows that job opporunties for computer science graduates are actually on the rise and so are the salaries.
The article CS Degree Starting Salaries Up 15% Since Bust was published October 5, 2007 in eWeek.
To quote Perelman: “In addition, some of the highest salary offers among all college majors, exceeded only by a few in the engineering field (chemical, computer, electrical and mechanical engineering, specifically), went to graduating computer science majors. Computer science majors saw a 4.5 percent increase in salary offers between 2006 and 2007, bringing the average to $53,051. The increase for information sciences and systems graduates was even greater (5.9 percent), resulting in an average offer of $49,966.”
This is a great article and you should definitely read it, and perhpas even print off a copy for your school’s guidance counsellor, or for the members of the PTA.
Chris Stephenson
CSTA Executive Director
But how many people are obtaining those high salaries? I understand your motivation to dispel the perception that computer science is a bad profession due to offshoring, but on the other hand ignoring offshoring is a huge disservice.
The fact is that if all graduates know is how to write programs they will find themselves easily replacable by anyone who can write programs anywhere in the world.
Graduates that can write programs, and work with clients to understand business problems, determine the requirements that need to be met to solve those problems, and can create innovative solutions to those problems will be the graduates with job security and high salaries.