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Fri, Nov 2, 5:30 - 5:55, Ellwood 1 Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: VanLengen, C A. Supply of Computer Graduates is Not Binary! In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2007, v 24 (Pittsburgh): §2714. ISSN: 1542-7382. (A later version appears in Information Systems Education Journal 7(62). ISSN: 1545-679X.)

Supply of Computer Graduates is Not Binary!

Refereed

5 pages

Craig A. VanLengen    [a1] [a2]
Computer Information Systems
Northern Arizona University    [u1] [u2]
Flagstaff, Arizona, USA    [c1] [c2]

Over the last ten years the demand for computer and information technology graduates has gone from a steady increase to a huge increase in demand to virtually no demand. Currently we are seeing a return to a steady increase in demand. The question is with offshoring and industry pressure for increases in temporary visas for technology professionals how long the demand will last. The decision on what to select for a major in college is long-term. Students select their major during high school or during the first few years of college. The completion of the major takes several years with an expectation of a job at the end of the academic pipeline. From 2001 until almost 2004 the passage from the academic pipeline to entry-level career was turned off or at least on low-flow. A large number of students, who graduated during that time period, did not receive job offers in the computer field. In the author’s opinion, this lack of job offers in the computer and information technology field has led to the shortage of incoming students desiring to major in the field. Improving our recruiting efforts to bring in new majors is a good start, but we also need industry to realize that completely turning off the entry-level job spigot will lead to even fewer majors in the future.

Keywords: offshoring, outsourcing, IT enrollment, IT careers

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