Geeks are "in"

It may seem hard to believe, but being a geek is trendy. Witness the popular new TV show Freaks and Geeks. And on college campuses, where one barometer for geekiness is enrollment in computer-related courses, the geeks are gaining in numbers.

More and more undergrads seeking high-tech training are flocking to engineering departments across the country. At the University of Maryland at College Park, for example, the number of computer engineering majors soared 42 percent between 1996 and 1998 to a total of 1,752 students.

What's behind the surge in interest? Marketability. The nation's hot Internet sector and an increasingly strong demand for high-tech workers have pushed starting salaries to $50,000 a year or more. In order to cash in on the bounty, though, college graduates must have the technical background that the computer industry is looking for. And that background is found in engineering departments.

The trend is likely to continue. Teenagers aged 13 to 17 ranked software development as one of their top three career choices, according to a survey last year by the Institute for Youth Development.

Another factor is that some states are luring students to pursue technical degrees with scholarships, along with the caveat that once the students graduate, they stay put. Last year, Maryland began offering undergraduate engineering majors up to $3,000 in scholarships if they promised to take jobs in the state's technology sector after graduation. More than 700 college-bound Maryland students took advantage of the scholarships this year.

With incentives like that, being a geek doesn't seem so bad.

Copyright American Society for Engineering Education Dec 1999
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