Computing Professionals Changing Needs for the 1990s (1993) / Chapter Skim
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Data and Taxonomy: Computing Professionals are Hard to Count
Data and Taxonomy: Computing Professionals are Hard to Count
Pages 10-28
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From page 10... ...
It surveys the major available data sets, describes what the data show, and concludes with a discussion of the issues involved in improving on what is currently available. INTRODUCTION Accurate and timely information on the availability and utilization of computing professionals and their skills is vital to a wide variety of decisionmakers.
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From page 11... ...
common difficulties encountered in gathering data and (2) uncommon disagreement about how to label and categorize computing professionals.
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From page 12... ...
Absent a general consensus about what computing professionals do, it is difficult to attain agreement within the community on taxonomic labels. For example, academic researchers appear most likely to identify themselves as "computer scientists," but people in industry who have computer science degrees and are associated with systems design and development may have such job titles as "software engineer" or "systems integrator" and may report on themselves to data collectors according to these job titles.
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From page 13... ...
Note that in contrast to such broad categories as "physical scientists" and "mathematicians," the listing includes titles representing a wide array of skills computer systems analysts, computer programmers, computer operators and data entry personnel, hardware and software engineers, and various types of computer scientists. However, it is possible to identify the narrower set of occupations that approximately encompass the computing professionals focused on by workshop participants.
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From page 14... ...
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From page 15... ...
In computing, there appear to be too many names and no agreement about what those names mean. Need for Better Taxonomies Many differences in data sets and analyses arise from differences in how subgroups of computing professionals are broken out as elements of a taxonomy used in gathering data.
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From page 16... ...
households—the Current Population Survey vey of establishments—the Occupational Employment Survey. The surveys have different respondents and rely on different taxonomies in collecting information.
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From page 17... ...
Overall, workshop participants agreed that job titles alone are poor indicators of what computing professionals do in their jobs, what the skill requirements are, and how the itchy relate to functions performed. , ~ Some of the problems arising from inappropriate taxonomies are reflected in BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook, a guide for career counseling for high school students and others.
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From page 18... ...
lane Siegel, of the Empirical Methods Group at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, underscored the value of even rough estimates of the numbers and characteristics of people engaged primarily in work relating to computer hardware development, computer software development, and systems integration, plus rough estimates of degree production. I would like to suggest that for that more senior audience and for the national-level work, keeping it simple is .
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From page 19... ...
, "[Ill you want to know whether the rise of microcomputers has led to a decrease in the need for programmers, you want to have the same definition of 'programmer'." That is, even though the nature and assignment of work may change, a constant metric may be needed in order to measure that change. Yet more confusion rises from the fact that some computing professional specialties necessarily straddle other fields.
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From page 20... ...
Sources of data in addition to the federal government's BLS, the NSF, and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) include such private and semiprivate organizations as the Engineering Manpower Commission, the Computing Research Association, the College Placement Council, and the American Council of Education/ Higher Education Research Institute.
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From page 21... ...
Using data collected monthly from the Current Population Survey, the BLS estimates employment in computer-related occupations. TABLE 2.1 Employed Scientists and Engineers (in Percentages)
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From page 22... ...
. Or engineering lo as 177 708 171 552 Bureau of Labor Statisticsa Systems analysts and computer scientists 182 476 Systems analysts and computer scientists 337 919 and programmers aEstimates based on data from the Current Population Survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census.
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From page 23... ...
The NRC data are restricted to individuals who hold the doctorate. For 1989-1990, the BLS reported 22,000 computer scientists and engineers employed in academic institutions, while the NRC counted about 6,600 academically employed computer science Ph.D.s for the same year.9 This range in estimates provides a vivid example of the data problems that impede analysis of computing professional labor markets.
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From page 24... ...
Computer Science and Computer Engineering Degrees Reported, 1986 to 1990 Year National Center for Education Statistics Engineering Manpower Commissiona Computer Science 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 Computer Engineering 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 42,195 39,927 34,896 30,963 2,192 2,021 2,115 2,198 4,999 5,012 4,275 4,398 4,355 aEMC surveys only institutions with engineering programs. SOURCE: Table A.1, Appendix A, "Comparison of Data Sources and Data," Betty M
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From page 26... ...
However, a high-level taxonomy alone will not provide information on shifting skill requirements; meeting this need requires developing better, more detailed occupational data that take into account shifting technology and industry dynamics. · A major need is community agreement on how to label different types of computing professionals and whom to count in each category.
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From page 27... ...
· The proposed high-level taxonomy should be related to portfolios of skills, providing a vehicle for tracking shifts in skill requirements that is independent of changing preferences in job titles. For example, the high-level taxonomy category "software professionals" might include skills that range from simple programming tasks to sophisticated database design or other software development skills.
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From page 28... ...
Also included are postdocs and nontenure-track employees supported by soft-money contracts. For example, CRA reports that 8 percent of its estimated academically employed computer scientists and engineers are in such nontenure-track appointments.
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