<p>[Perception</a> Problem Plagues Computer Science](<a href=“http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/careerwatch/et1]Perception”>http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/careerwatch/et1)</p>
<p>The disparity has those in the field scratching their heads. “The major ought to be appealing,” said Zweben. “All the Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts and anything you want to look at economically say computing people are in demand. The job market is very good for the graduates.” </p>
<p>“There’s every reason to believe this has turned around and is coming back,” Lazowska said. “There’s a buzz back—both around the excitement of the field and the employment possibilities.” </p>
<p>Lazowska believes the misperception about computer scientists’ job prospects will take care of itself. “People understand that now we’re having a boom in startup companies again, and that entry-level salaries are up, and that offshoring isn’t something that’s making a significant dent.”</p>
<p>But where the computing community could do a better job, he said, is in spreading word of computer science’s capacity to change the world and tackle important issues, from healthcare to safety to climate change.</p>
<p>He recalls having to reassure prospective students and their parents that the industry would bounce back. “I asked them to think about whether computing is going to be an area that is going to be in demand for society—not just for computing jobs but for jobs that support other disciplines. It was hard to sell that to people, but I kept telling the story and eventually it proved to be more or less right.” </p>
<p>“We have to help people understand that computer science is a field where you can affect and improve people’s lives as opposed to a field where you can just make a buck,” Lazowska said. “Many of the things people care about—transforming healthcare so we have better knowledge of treatments, or reducing auto accidents, or transforming the conduct of science through new approaches to science in mountains of data. All of these are advances that people care about and are fundamentally at their heart computer science.”</p>