Gender differences in grit and programming experience across course levels and their relationship to undergraduate students’ intention to complete a computer science degree

Contributors

Becoming a computer scientist

Guest Editorial

The need for graduates from master's programs in computer science and related areas is well recognized [19, 20]. Indeed, some companies have a policy of extensively utilizing master's programs at universities for the continuing education of their employees. The Graduate Study Program of Bell Laboratories is well known. At Honeywell Information Systems it has been found that support of continuing studies at the master's level helps in hiring and retaining personnel, and is beneficial to the dissemination of new technology through the organization [29]. It has been demonstrated that programmers acquire new knowledge primarily from other programmers [17]; periodic influx into an organization of graduates of programs of advanced study is therefore essential if the organization is to retain technical soundness. Universities have responded to this need, but in a rather haphazard manner, with the result that we have today a variety of programs, some of which have very little to do with computer science. Some of the programs are no more than, to use Smoliar's [41] words, “undergraduate programs for grown-ups.” Others are viewed as a first stage in the preparation for research careers of narrow specialization. Late in 1972 Terry Walker [45] conducted a poll of master's degree granting departments. The four primary objectives of a master's program given by the 93 respondents were: prepare a person for a job designing computer software systems, prepare a person for a job as a systems analyst, prepare a person to pursue a doctoral degree in computer science, prepare a person for a job as a scientific programmer. Today one would add a fifth objective: prepare a person for teaching computer science at the junior college level. There is clearly a need to reconcile these different objectives with a unified view of computer science.

The need for graduates from master's programs in computer science and related areas is well recognized [19, 20]. Indeed, some companies have a policy of extensively utilizing master's programs at universities for the continuing education of their employees. The Graduate Study Program of Bell Laboratories is well known. At Honeywell Information Systems it has been found that support of continuing studies at the master's level helps in hiring and retaining personnel, and is beneficial to the dissemination of new technology through the organization [29]. It has been demonstrated that programmers acquire new knowledge primarily from other programmers [17]; periodic influx into an organization of graduates of programs of advanced study is therefore essential if the organization is to retain technical soundness.Universities have responded to this need, but in a rather haphazard manner, with the result that we have today a variety of programs, some of which have very little to do with computer science. Some of the programs are no more than, to use Smoliar's [41] words, “undergraduate programs for grown-ups.” Others are viewed as a first stage in the preparation for research careers of narrow specialization. Late in 1972 Terry Walker [45] conducted a poll of master's degree granting departments. The four primary objectives of a master's program given by the 93 respondents were: prepare a person for a job designing computer software systems, prepare a person for a job as a systems analyst, prepare a person to pursue a doctoral degree in computer science, prepare a person for a job as a scientific programmer. Today one would add a fifth objective: prepare a person for teaching computer science at the junior college level. There is clearly a need to reconcile these different objectives with a unified view of computer science.

Entering or advancing in the IT labor market: The role of an online graduate degree in computer science

Medical schools have the responsibility of producing future leaders in academic medicine, yet few students choose academic medicine as a career. In 2009, the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) and the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences joined forces to provide students with a comprehensive introduction to careers in academic medicine through the redesign of an existing annual summer program for medical students. Since 2004, AMSA had hosted the Medical Education Leadership Institute, a weeklong program that attracted medical students from across the country who were interested in gaining teaching skills. In the redesigned sixth annual program, the authors expanded the curriculum to include principles of leadership, of medical education scholarship (or project development), and of academic medicine career-building. The purpose of this article is to describe the features of this comprehensive program and to share the lessons learned from its development and implementation. The authors also describe the multifaceted approach they used to evaluate the program, which featured a rubric they derived from social cognitive career theory.

Focus on Authors

I have been appointed as the next Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering and will step down from my current Executive Editor position for Knowledge and Information Systems (KAIS) at the end of 2004. Nick Cercone, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University in Canada, will take the responsibility of Editor-in-Chief for Knowledge and Information Systems (KAIS), starting January 1, 2005. Professor Cercone is an internationally renowned researcher in several fields of computer science and a recognized world leader. His research interests include natural language processing, knowledge-based systems, knowledge-discovery in databases, data mining and design and human interfaces. He is the author of over 200 refereed publications and has graduated 60 graduate students. Professor Cercone cofounded the Computational Intelligence journal and currently serves on the editorial boards of six journals. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a past president of the CSCSI/SCEIO (Canadian Society for Computational Studies of Intelligence), of the Canadian Society for Fifth Generation Research, and of the Canadian Association for Computer Science (CACS/AIC). In 1996, he won the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Society’s Distinguished Service Award. Prior to his current dean position at Dalhousie, Professor Cercone was Chair of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. From 1993 until 1997, he was Associate Vice President (Research) and Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Regina. Formerly, he was Director of the Center for Systems Science at Simon Fraser University (1987–1992) and Chairman of the School of Computing Science (1980–1985) at Simon Fraser. He received the BS degree in engineering science from the University of Steubenville in 1968, the MS degree in computer and information science from Ohio State University in 1970, and a PhD degree in computing science from the University of Alberta in 1975. Professor Cercone has an active home page on the Web at with detailed information for his research and leadership activities. Springer and I are very grateful for Professor Cercone’s agreement to serve in the KAIS Editor-in-Chief position. We believe that his research expertise and leadership

The state of science and technical education is at a crucial juncture in our nation. In order to address this issue, the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics felt the need to incorporate recent technological developments into its Computer Science program. A conceptual framework for the revision and the resulting A.S. degree in Computer Science Program with a Telecommunications option are presented.

In 2004 African Americans (12.2% of the population) received 3.1% of the total bachelor degrees in computer science in the United States. The Technology Leadership Institute (TLI) is designed to identify the social, economic & academic barriers that inhibit these students from pursuing 4-year degrees in computer science. The goal of the TLI is to encourage students to take an interest in the computer and information sciences and to build the knowledge and skills necessary to gain admission into competitive computer science programs

A Decade After the Genome, Bioinformatics Comes of Age

The purpose of this case study was to understand the experiences of women in any leadership role with Computer Science or Engineering degrees that have helped them persist and advance in their careers in the context of Silicon Valley. The "leaky pipeline" phenomenon has been described as women leaving the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) track at many stages in the pipeline (K-12, secondary, career). It has resulted in underrepresentation of women at all levels of the career ladder, specifically, for women with Computer Science and Engineering degrees in leadership positions. Using a case study research methodology, this study sought to answer this question: Why do women with Computer Science and Engineering degrees leadership positions in Silicon Valley stay in the field? Ten women in senior leadership roles in high-tech companies in Silicon Valley with at least a Bachelor's in Science degree in Computer Science or Engineering participated in the study. Women in this case study had a job title of Director or above. One-on-one interviews, a review of artifacts, and the researcher's observations of the participants during their participation in the study were analyzed. Four themes emerged from their interviews and artifact review: (a) STEM foundation, (b) grit, (c) Silicon Valley barriers, and (d) career strategies.

Guest Editorial: Blockchain and decentralised solutions for social good

This paper describes part of a joint project, under the European Union's Lifelong Learning Curriculum Development. This project defines a methodology to implement a collaborative Master level course in Computer Science. The project has been proposed by seven European institutions from different countries such as, Finland, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Romania. The European Master Program in Computer Science (EMaCS) project intends to define a methodology to implement a Master that offers education and training opportunities for the next generation in research and innovation, to provide students with profound knowledge and insight into some fields of Computer Science. It also intends to meet the demands of industry and research in a rapidly growing area. The project has several components and the main concrete outcome is a methodology to create a two-year plan for a European Master Degree in Computer Science. This methodology can be applied to Master Programs in different areas. Coimbra team was the lead partner and the responsible for the workpackages regarding management and research. This experience is willing to be shared.