Can software development get its groove back?
This week, President Obama reiterated his plans to strengthen the American higher education system by bolstering the nation's two-year community colleges, including new programs backed by a $35 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. "The goal is to ensure that every state in the country has at least one strong partnership between a growing industry and a community college," Obama said at a meeting of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
No industries could benefit from such partnerships more than IT and software development. Community colleges are in a unique position to lay the foundation for advanced coursework in information systems and computer science.
Unfortunately, recent trends paint a grim picture. According to DARPA, the research and development office for the U.S. Department of Defense, there were 45 percent fewer enrollments in CS degree programs in 2006 to 2007 than in 2003 to 2004. The trend is even more dramatic for women; according to the Computing Research Association, women accounted for just 12 percent of CS undergraduate degrees in 2006 to 2007.
