A survey on computer science curricula

As in many businesses, the data processing industry largely depends on colleges and universities for the basic education of its technical and scientific personnel. Increasingly, the key to entry into this industry for the college graduate is becoming a degree in a discipline loosely defined as “computer science”. Since the computing industry is as broadly defined and as diverse as the various computer science majors, there has been a tendency for the industry on the whole to be only vaguely aware of what students are learning on campus. In addition, there has been a lack of communication by the industry concerning the qualities and skills it seeks in the “computer science” graduate. This paper, then, discusses some of the attitudes of the McDonnell Douglas Automation Company (MCAUTO tm ) concerning those qualities and skills it seeks in college graduates in the computing field.