Computer science classes, as they’re currently operating in the nation’s schools, are insufficient to meet the nation’s growing demand for jobs in that field, according to a new report.
The analysis released last week by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation draws on data from Code.org to project that by 2020, the U.S. labor market will be 1 million qualified graduates short of the 1.4 million it will need to meet industry demand.
Among the problems cited in the report are: a shortage of qualified teachers to teach computer science in K-12 public schools; a focus on basic computer literacy and coding over more-complex knowledge of programming paradigms, algorithms, and data structures; class cancellations caused by underenrollment; and a tendency for computer science classes to be offered as electives rather than core subjects.