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> In general, I would push on people to explain not just what the problems are in the industry, but how they deter college students from pursuing a major in CS.
by rdtsc 3y ago
> In general, I would push on people to explain not just what the problems are in the industry, but how they deter college students from pursuing a major in CS.
I think one of the major reasons is not that many people are interested in it. We like to sit and invert binary trees all day, so we naturally assume everyone else should be just as excited about this wonderful activity; and if they are not, something is wrong, we should worry, and figure out some way to trick them to switch majors.
Imagine what programming looks like to a kid: "Oh wow, sitting all day looking at text on a screen? I can't wait to do just that for the rest of my life!". Compare that to being a doctor, a construction worker, nurse, engineer, or even a lawyer. Any of those other professions just look a lot more exciting.
- leoedin 3y ago> engineer Mostly sit all day looking at text on a screen. Diagrams if you're lucky. > lawyer Sits all day looking at text on a screen.
- chongli 3y agolawyer Sits all day looking at text on a screen. This is the reality but not the perception people have. Most people’s exposure to lawyers is from shows like Better Call Saul. What’s funny is that if they paid attention to the show, they’d see real work being done, in the form of endless hours of looking at documents. But those scenes are all done as montages with sexy music, so people don’t realize how boring they can be.
- rdtsc 3y agoAll of those professions (except construction perhaps) would probably involve lots of sitting and staring at screens, but that’s not what kids think they are. The engineer gets to design a thing, then gets to see it built. The lawyer does lots of paperwork but kids think of the trial when they argue their case in front of judges and jurors and win.
- Given_47 3y agoDefinitely not biased here but idk the prospect of building whatever u want and seeing it immediately realized seems pretty exciting. And all u have to do is hack at ur keyboard lol. I’m just struggling to envision construction work being more “exciting”
- rdtsc 3y agoSure, I am the same way, I’ve programming since I was teenager and always enjoyed it. But at the same time I realize that doesn’t look like a fun and exciting thing for most kids.
- 8n4vidtmkvmk 3y agoConstruction sounds reasonably exciting in many similar ways to CS. You can build something, see it progress, and be proud that you built the final thing. It's just physical labor instead of hacking at a keyboard.
- kuchenbecker 3y agoConstruction requires high upfront capital.
- 8n4vidtmkvmk 3y agoWorkers have to buy their own tools I guess? Suppose that makes sense if you're on contract. How much is that? I've seen kits for like $200 or so, I imagine a worker would want better stuff but maybe like $1000 then? Is it more? Or are you talking about floating the money for parts? Wood and concrete and tile and what not?