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3.5. The pace of change in the workplace: Degrees and career opportunities
Just as it takes time for academic institutions to adapt, it also takes time for industry and other players in the computing workplace to do the same. As a result, some job opportunities will reflect the “pre-1990s”
model shown at the top of Figure 2.3. In other words, because new computing disciplines are new, no one yet expects people to have those qualifications.
With respect to CE, the new disciplines are not much of an issue. It is clear where people go for expertise in hardware and related software. CE has adopted this role from EE, and the change is largely complete.
CE, like EE, is part of the professional engineering community, and in the U.S. this has implications for where one can earn a CE degree. Not every university has an engineering program. Employers looking
for people with a CE background want graduates of an accredited CE program.
It is also clear where people look for expertise at the interface between the information needs of business and computing. IS occupies that role in both the “pre-1990s” and “post-1990s” landscape. It is essential
that those who pursue this path make sure that they find an IS program that continues to update its vision and has an emphasis that fits the interests of the prospective student. For prospective IS students, the task
of finding the right program is complicated by the variety of names used by such programs.
At present, most people who function in the U.S. as serious software engineers have degrees in CS, not in SE. In large part this is because CS degrees have been widely available for 30 years and SE degrees have
not. The story is similar for people working in the IT profession: most IT professionals who have computing degrees come from CS or IS programs. It is far too soon for someone who wants to work as a
software engineer or as an information technology practitioner to be afraid that they won’t get the chance to do so if they don’t graduate from a degree program in one of those new disciplines. In general, a CS
degree from a respected program is still the most flexible of degrees, as it can open doors into the professional worlds of CS, SE, IT, and in some cases CE. Similarly, a degree from a respected IS
program permits entry into the worlds of IS and IT.
This situation presents ambiguity to students who are trying to determine what discipline to study and to educators who are trying to decide how their programs can best serve their constituents. We identify the
various factors that educators should consider in Chapter 4. We focus on the factors students should consider in the Guide, which is the second part of this report and is also available as a standalone
document.
3.6. Shared identity: Common requirements of computing degrees
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