'Sputnik moment' needed for Computer Science

Bill Gates: "'When I think about different areas of activity, really to me other than some neat stuff in biology, it's hard to think of a domain that's going to change the world one-hundredth as much as advanced software will in the decades ahead.'"

I'm convinced that one of the reasons that CS programs have seen declining enrollment in recent years is because students aren't properly seeing how computing technology will continue to transform almost every aspect of our lives. Medicine, Economics, Politics, Entertainment, Education, Manufacturing, and even Construction are all undergoing radical changes because of developing technologies.

Declining CS enrollment might also be linked to the perception that CS majors develop technical expertise at the expense of 'soft skills.' Employers increasingly look for candidates with a broad education: effective writing skills, leadership, public communication all contribute to job success. The solution then isn't to avoid technical majors, but rather to transform their curricula to develop a broad set of skills. "Humane Computing" might be an apt term.

The perfect place to develop these new models for CS education is at colleges and universities that have a strong foundation in liberal arts and general education. The computer scientists who will lead in the future should not only have the technical skills to design and implement new technologies; they should have a solid foundation in history, sociology and ethics, so they can evaluate the impact of such technologies on individuals and societies. They should be well grounded in sociology, art, and psychology, to design humane interfaces that are accessible and pleasant to the people who use them. And they should be broadly educated in a variety of disciplines, so that they can find applications for technology that they are both knowledgeable and passionate about.