Comment by zaidf | Hacker News Reader

Comment by zaidf | Hacker News Reader

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    I would assume that they wont submit 
    because they can find more fulfilling work elsewhere.

Again, I don't think he is addressing people who already have a job. Think about why he was even asked this question: apparently because there is this popular notion that America does not have enough IT workers and therefore needs to get 'em from India etc.

I am not sure how true or untrue that notion is. But it is widely accepted.

I do see your point and think it is valid: the current American compsci grads and engineers usually can find a job. What this guy should be talking about is EXPANDING the total size of the engineering/compsci grads so even folks not necessarily very inclined can come in and do tedious but decent paying jobs. The end result is more money goes to Americans and fewer importation of labor from India etc.

Well, since there is the need for this work to be done, it makes sense that someone gets trained to do that work. I remain skeptical though whether a university is the right provider for such a kind of education.

I'm from Germany and we do not really have an equivalent to US college education. Secondary education is partially integrated in our equivalent to a high school and you go to university after that. Alternatively, there is another path of secondary education/apprenticeship where you split your time between working for a company to get hands-on experience in your chosen line of work and attend classes the rest of the time. Such apprenticeships are also available for IT and software development related work.

Nevertheless, a lot of people believe that programming a computer is a sufficiently complex activity which only people that have attended university are capable of. That may be a part of the problem that the guy in the original article was complaining about: although people can acquire the skills needed to be a programmer elsewhere, they still go to universities in order to secure some credentials that will increase their chances of employment.

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