A Quantitative Study of Faculty Views on the Goals of an Undergraduate CS Program and Preparing Students for Industry
Sander Valstar, Caroline Sih, Sophia Krause-Levy, Leo Porter, William G. Griswold
Abstract
Although elements of the academia-industry gap have been studied extensively, these studies have mostly ignored the primary stakeholder for changing academia: faculty. Building on a recent qualitative study that revealed a wide range of faculty views on the gap, this study quantitatively examines faculty views through a survey on the goals of CS education, how CS programs should address the academia-industry gap, and which barriers prevent adoption of remedies. Analysis of the 249 responses reveals that a majority of faculty share common goals in supporting student preparation for a career in industry. Moreover, faculty strongly view their own institutions as the prime party responsible for student preparation for careers in both academia and industry. We also find that whereas faculty are generally in agreement on what could be improved to provide students with better industry preparation, some reported far greater barriers to implementing those improvements than others.