1. Career Paths in Computing
Computer Science and Software Engineering
© 2014 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

2. See videos at http://www.code.org/
Computing is:
Creative,
Social,
In demand!
See videos at

3. Half of STEM Job Openings Are for Computer Specialists
2.8 million STEM openings
2.6 times as many computer specialists will be needed as in all other engineering areas combined.
0.5 million engineers
1.4 million CS
Reproduced in PCAST Report to the President, Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in STEM, Feb 2012, p.78.

4. Computer Specialties in Demand!
This graph shows the five fastest-growing career fields requiring 2- and 4-year college degrees, based on 2010–2020 annual projected job openings from the BLS. These five fields account for 55% of the demand for jobs calling for a 2-year or 4-year degree. The percent of job openings are shown in red by career field. The yellow bars show the percentage of high school seniors taking the ACT who declared interest in each career field. (52% of U.S. high school seniors take the ACT exam.) The interest in computer specialties was the furthest out-of-whack of all fields when compared with the future demands for educated workers in the United States.
National Readiness Report ACT: Iowa City. Accessed at media.act.org/documents/CCCR12-NationalReadinessRpt.pdf.
From media.act.org/documents/CCCR12-NationalReadinessRpt.pdf

5. Other Career Paths Need CT
Computational Thinking (CT)
Using automation, abstraction, and analysis. It’s more than programming!
All STEM jobs utilize CT Skills
Non-STEM jobs utilize CT Skills
Especially needed are
________ Who Program
Biologists Who Program
Marketing Specialists Who Program
As mentioned in an earlier slide, half of the 2.8 million STEM jobs open by 2018 are for computer specialists. But the other half need computational thinking skills, too! And the millions of non-STEM jobs also require computational thinking!

6. Computing Degrees and Careers
Computer Engineering Includes hardware. Hardware/software/communications.
Computer Science Most common degree category. Broad, emphasizing math.
Information Technology Infrastructure and user needs. Can include systems to support learning and information dissemination.
Information Systems Handling information for businesses and other organizations.
Software Engineering Focus on large-scale software systems, emphasizes collaboration, reliability, maintainability.
These are five categories for degree programs from the Association of Computing Machinery. Visit the ACM page computingcareers.acm.org/?page_id=6 .
This course will not include Computer Engineering; that career path is explored in the PLTW course Digital Electronics. The other four degree paths are explored in this course, one in each unit.

7. Occupational Outlook OCCUPATION ENTRY-LEVEL EDUCATION 2010 MEDIAN PAY
Computer Support Specialists
Some college, no degree
$46,000
Computer Programmers
Bachelor’s degree
$71,000
Computer Systems Analysts
$78,000
Database Administrators
$73,000
Information Security Analysts, Web Developers, and Computer Network Architects
$76,000
Network and Computer Systems Administrators
$69,000
Software Developers
$91,000
Computer and Information Research Scientists
Doctoral or professional degree
$101,000
Eight categories of jobs are tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Visit the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook section on
Computer and Information Technology Occupations, which provides a full page about each occupation. .