Abstract: Computer science is a relative young science that also straddles technology and engineering, but is now taught in the vast majority of universities. The talk will explore overall trends in student numbers and profiles, curriculum content, etc., in the UK and elsewhere. The relationship with school-level education and industry will be covered and some possible solutions to key issues will be proposed. A talk on Computer Science Education in Universities, delivered at the House of Lords in London on 20 March 2013.

1. Computer Science
Education in Universities
Prof. Jonathan Bowen
Emeritus Professor
London South Bank University / Museophile Limited
www.jpbowen.com

2. Alan Turing (1912–1954)
• Centenary in 2012
• “The Father of
Computer Science”
– The Scientists, Thames & Hudson, 2012
• Annual Turing Award
– CS equivalent of Nobel Prize
“I was flabbergasted to learn that today
computer science is not even taught as
standard in UK schools. This risks throwing
away your great computing heritage.”
– Eric Schmitt
Google CEO, 2011

3. Computer science
• Young discipline (first department in 1962)
• Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths
• Taught in most universities
• Student numbers
• Curriculum content
• School-level preparation
• Industrial relevance
• Possible solutions to key issues

4. Computer science courses on offer in UK fall 18%
• As fees go up to £9,000 a year, course choices narrow
• By Anh Nguyen | Computerworld UK | 24 February 2012
• The number of full-time undergraduate computer
science courses offered by UK universities has fallen
by nearly a fifth since 2006...
• ...169 computer science courses were available in 2012,
down 18% from 2006, when 207 courses were on offer.
• ... The number of courses available at UK universities
has fallen by 27% since 2006, with those in England
cutting 31%, compared to just 3% in Scotland.
University and College Union (UCU)
report, based on data from universities
admission service UCAS.

5. UCAS applications for Computer Sciences in 2012
Maths A-level preferred to CS in general
2012 applications (total 89,673)
3% 1%
I1 - Computer Science
7%
I2 - Information Systems
9%
I3 - Software Engineering
13%
II - Combinations in CS
67%
I6 - Games
I4 - Artificial Intelligence
Group I Computer Sciences, UCAS, 2012

6. UCAS acceptances for Computer Sciences in 2012
CS acceptance ratio 4.6:1, 22% (cf. 5.7:1, 18% overall)
2012 acceptances (total 19,353)
1% 0%
I1 - Computer Science
7%
10% I2 - Information Systems
I3 - Software Engineering
15%
II - Combinations in CS
67%
I6 - Games
I4 - Artificial Intelligence
Group I Computer Sciences, UCAS, 2012

7. Computer science undergraduate students in the UK
Full-time increasing, part-time decreasing
90000
80000
70000 18220 16155 15455
19935 18345
60000
50000
40000
30000 55700 56030 58680 60385 61135
20000
10000
0
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Full-time Part-time
Data from Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited, 2013

8. Computer science vs. overall science full-time
undergraduate student percentage in the UK
4.6
Science
4.5 overall level,
cf. CS
4.4 decreasing
4.3 CS %
Science %/10
4.2
4.1
4
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Data from Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited, 2013

9. Computer science postgraduate
students in the UK
18000 17135
16335
15720
16000
14000 13425 13460
12000
10000
8000 6520 6750
6180 6145 5615
6000
4000
2000
0
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Full-time Part-time Decreasing recently
Data from Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited, 2013

10. Computer science and overall science full-time
postgraduate student percentages in the UK
7
Science
6 overall level,
5 cf. CS
decreasing
4
CS %
3 Science %/10
2
Many CS
1 postgraduate
students are
0
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 from abroad
Data from Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited, 2013

11. Average CS majors per US CS Department
1999-2011
 Dot-com crash

12. US CS degrees
Dot-com boom  Dot-com crash + 4 years
1995-2011

13. Total female/male CS students in the UK
30000
25000
20000
15000 Female CS
Male CS
10000
5000
0
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Marked disparity

14. Total female CS students in the UK
2007–12
6500
6000
6045
5860
5750
5500
5445
5270 Female CS
5000
4500
4000
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

15. Female CS, science and overall
student percentages in the UK
60
50
40
CS%
30
Science %
Overall %
20
10
0
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Female CS % numbers low and continuing to decline

16. ♂ Gender balance ♀
• CS not very attractive to female students...
• ... despite using IT (mobile, games, etc.)
• Curriculum not female-oriented
• US image different (e.g., The Social Network)
but still 37%♀ in 1985, 18%♀ in 2010, down 51%
• Image problem at school level
• Incentivise better
gender balance?

17. Curriculum
• BCS accreditation – driver for CS content
• Highly desirable for UK degree programmes
• Degrees for Chartered IT Professional (CITP),
also CEng and CSci
• 98 mostly UK universities accredited
• Signatory to Washington and Seoul Accords
(international accreditation)
• BCS currently concentrating on CS at schools
• Review CS at universities?

18. Curriculum
• In US and elsewhere, ACM is influential
• Also IEEE – e.g., SWEBOK
• Software Engineering Body of Knowledge
• What a software engineer should know
• Body of Knowledge
for CS, etc.?

19. Computer science in China
• China’s University and College Admission System (CUCAS)
• Computer Science and Technology
• 2007: 598 universities with CS departments running
847 computing-related programmes (up 75% from
484 in 2002), with over 430,000 undergraduates
• Degree programmes usually split into:
1. computer system structures
2. computer software and theory
3. applied computer science

20. Computer science graduate teachers
• Little incentive for CS graduates to
become teachers (cf. maths and physics)
• Very few CS graduates in schools
• IT often taught by teachers with little CS
experience
• Incentivise CS graduates
to teach CS
• In the meantime, Computer Science
Teaching Network of Excellence ...

21. 70 universities, 600 schools,
18/24 Russell Group 120 lead schools

22. University Master
Teacher
CPD
Schools
(max 40)
First three months: 250 teachers on CPD courses
Thank you to Bill Mitchell, BCS Academy

23. Visas
• General problem
• Discourages collaboration
• Bureaucratic procrustean process
• Working afterwards an issue for students
• Safeguards needed ...
• ... but make proportionate
• More trust in reliable institutions?

24. Industry
• Liaison needed
• Education vs. training
• CS is a very fast-changing field
(fastest?)
• Foundations more stable,
applications change constantly
(e.g., mobile)
First Google
• Need to ensure relevance web server
(1999), already
(short and long term) in a museum
• Enabling through BCS or ...? for many years!

25. Solutions
• Better foundations at school (underway!)
– especially mathematical underpinning
• Scheme for CS graduate teachers
• Improve curriculum (BCS accreditation)
• Incentivise gender balance (how?)
• Visa bureaucracy (reduce)
• Dialogue with industry for needs
(national forum?)

26. Alan Turing
(1912–1954)
• 60th anniversary of
his death in 2014
• The Turing Guide,
Oxford University
Press, 2014
Slate sculpture of Alan
Turing at Bletchley Park
by Stephen Kettle
(www.stephenkettle.co.uk)

27. The End
Prof. Jonathan Bowen
www.jpbowen.com
jpbowen@gmail.com