Decline in Computer Science Skill
I just read this article from BusinessWeek about America’s declining performance in the ACM ICPC as a sign of declining Computer Science education in the country.
Most top spots were seized by teams from Eastern Europe and Asia. Until the late 1990s, U.S. teams dominated these contests. But the tide has turned. Last year not one was in the top dozen …
The poor showings should serve as a wake-up call for government, industry, and educators. The output of American computer science programs is plummeting, even while that of Eastern European and Asian schools is rising. China and India, the new global tech powerhouses, are fueled by 900,000 engineering graduates of all types each year, more than triple the number of U.S. grads. Computer science is a key subset of engineering. “If our talent base weakens, our lead in technology, business, and economics will fade faster than any of us can imagine,'’ warns Richard Florida, a professor at George Mason University and author of The Flight of the Creative Class.
What the article does not mentioned is that most of these bright you computer scientists from different countries around the world either end up working with a local subsidiary of a US company or move to the US for work. This still means that CS talent still moves towards US company. Then, these companies still invest a chuck of their educational support and R&D budgets on US universities. Another thing to note is that when these undergraduates graduate they will most likely take-up graduatate courses in US universities. Of course, restrictive immigration policies will force these students home. Then, they will still probably end up with subsidiaries of US firms (at a fraction of the cost). What are they worried about? Corporate America lives on!
Besidies, ACM ICPC is not just about brains. It is about relentless discipline. You have to want to be a winner, you should spend time to be a winner, and you should train to be a winner to be a winner. I have seen the local Ateneo Linden Boyz train and they do spend a great deal of effort training. But, this is nothing compared to the 7000 problems solved by the Chinese team in one summer.
April 27th, 2006 at 8:22 am
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April 28th, 2006 at 5:10 am
Hmmm. I think that they’re probably thinking they might be losing the smarts for such competitions but what I think they lack is discipline or maybe they have become complacent in the way they have been teaching their students. It could be a combination.
Funny thing is that it reminds me of the fact there are Filipinos who get work because of the homeworks, papers and dissertations that have been outsourced…
Anyhow, thank you for finding time to read my presentation
Yeah, I wish there could be a series of talks about FOSS in education. Maybe I could talk to the PLUG Board about that for one of the quarterly tech seminars 
April 28th, 2006 at 5:34 am
Ah yes. Promote FOSS in Schools more aggressively!