I am currently working on a CS degree, but am thinking of transferring. My current employer, who has a BS in CS from Michigan. He advised me to stay away from IT, calling it a useless degree. I trust him since he has the degree and has been in the industry for decades. I am just looking for any comments from professionals on how the various degrees are viewed. What I am looking for is a computer degree that will allow me to work at the highest level, and will pretty much guarantee me a shot at most computer related jobs. I don't ever want to be denied a job because my degree isn't good enough. Which is why I have stayed with CS.
First question that comes to mind...what exactly do you mean by CS? As compared to IT? As compared to CIS?
From my experience, it is a common opinion in the industry. A CS degree with the same courses will be looked upon favorably. It is just one of those illogical but persistent realities.
I would say the CS degree would be looked on more favorably, especially since you would be considered an engineer.
Are you saying that a holder of a CS degree is considered an engineer? It's been my experience that engineers typically look down at CS degrees - just one of many engineer oddities. If this were the '80s I would concur with the edge that a CS degree has over CIS. I think the rep has evened out over the 90's though - in keeping with the rise of the IT discipline in general.
Dool, Yes, it was my understanding that a CS degree was an engineering degree. That's why having one will get you a membership into the "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers". I believe one of the rules of "full" membership is that the word "Science" must be on your degree. Which of course is not with a CIS degree. I may be mistaken, but that is how i remember it. It may be that engineers look down on CS degrees, but then what type of degree would be better for engineering computers, software, etc.?
In many universities, CS and Engineering are managed by one department. ABET, the professional accreditor of engineering programs, also accredits computer science programs. I have noticed that for combined departments, math and science requirements are the same for either degree. Also, almost all the Engineering Management graduate degrees (that I've investigated) will accept applicants with either Computer Science or Engineering degrees. Does all this make CS an engineering degree? Not really; however, at least for some purposes a CS degree is treated equivalently with an engineering degree.
I'm not really taking a stand one way or the other. I'm only noting - with mild amusement - how the parochial engineering community ranks degrees: 1 - Engineers w/"Board Certifications" 2 - EE 3 - non-EE degrees 4 - everyone else Not that this is an isolated phenomenon: Pilots (Fighter, etc) in the Air Force, High Finance in the F50, "grew up in the firm" for public accounting, and so on. This board seems to be doing it with CS, CSIT and IT.
What do you mean by "Board Certifications" Are you referring to something along the lines of Chartered status? BTW, the ranking of degrees by Engineers is even more advanced in Australia. Both Technologists and Engineering Associates are included within the list. Unfortunately they are proposing the unthinkable step of giving those with only engineering associate qualifications (advanced diploma - roughly equivalent to the US degree) the same membership standing of the Institution of Engineers as those with Professional Engineering degrees. Shock Horror!
