NSF reports on graduate enrollment for 2003

NSF reports that "graduate enrollment in science and engineering programs is up in 2003, but declines for first-time foreign students".

Graduate enrollment in 2003 grew in all major S&E fields and in all subfields except computer sciences. Computer sciences enrollment dropped 3 percent from the previous year, the first decrease in that field since 1995. Of the fields of study with the largest graduate enrollments (10,000 or more), mechanical engineering led with an 8 percent gain, followed by mathematical sciences and physics, each with 7 percent gains.

"Closing the gender gap"

Computer Weekly.com: "a large number of girls associate computing with mundane office or secretarial work." "The number of women in IT has been falling since the 1980s and is now thought to be about 20% of the total workforce."

"Where jobs are and students aren't"

Globe and Mail, September 21, 2005: "Dean McKeown, manager of the school of computing at Queen's, says enrolment in the Kingston, Ont., university dropped 20 per cent during the 2004-2005 school year and levelled off this year." "Universities, faced with declining interest, are starting to adapt to the shift. The Queen's school of computing recently introduced a biomedical computing program, which has become the most popular option at the school. Ryerson now offers a program that teaches students with a tech background management skills."

"Microsoft Changes How It Builds Software"

In a WSJ article, the author describes the transition from a largely ad-hoc software development process to a more structured, tool-based one, after the Longhorn project foundered and was repeatedly delayed.