[论文解读] Are Computer Science and Engineering Graduates Ready for the Software Industry? Experiences from an Industrial Student Training Program

Eray Tüzün, Hakan Erdogmus+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|May 22, 2018

Information Systems Education and Curriculum Development参考文献 10被引用 13

一句话总结

本文評估了一項由企業資助的暑期學校計劃，旨在評估並提升即將畢業的電腦科學與工程畢業生的技能，以利僱用。透過整合產業相關的培訓與態度評估，該計劃成功僱用了50%的參與者，顯示結構化的就業前培訓能有效彌合學術教育與產業需求之間的技能差距。

ABSTRACT

It has been 50 years since the term software engineering was coined in 1968 at a NATO conference. The field should be relatively mature by now, with most established universities covering core software engineering topics in their Computer Science programs and others offering specialized degrees. However, still many practitioners lament a lack of skills in new software engineering hires. With the growing demand for software engineers from the industry, this apparent gap becomes more and more pronounced. One corporate strategy to address this gap is for the industry to develop supplementary training programs before the hiring process, which could also help them screen viable candidates. In this paper, we report on our experiences and lessons learned in conducting a summer school program aimed at screening new graduates, introducing them to core skills relevant to the organization and the industry, and assessing their attitudes toward mastering those skills before the hiring process begins. Our experience suggests that such initiatives can be mutually beneficial for new hires and companies. We support this insight with pre- and post-training data collected from the participants during the first edition of such a summer school and a follow-up questionnaire conducted after a year with the graduates, 50% of whom was hired by the company shortly after the summer school.

研究动机与目标

• 解決軟件工程畢業生在學術訓練與產業期望之間長期存在的差距。
• 識別儘管接受正式教育，新僱員在實務軟件工程技能上的不足之處。
• 開發就業前培訓計劃，以評估並提升畢業生在工業軟件開發中的準備程度。
• 評估此類計劃在改善僱用決策與候選人準備程度方面的有效性。
• 收集參與者成果的長期追蹤數據，以驗證該計劃對留任率與績效的長期影響。

提出的方法

• 設計並實施一項為期六週的暑期學校計劃，針對近期畢業的電腦科學與工程畢業生。
• 提供版本控制、測試與敏捷方法等核心軟件工程實務的實作訓練。
• 透過訓練前後的評估，衡量技能提升與對軟件工程實務態度的轉變。
• 在計劃結束一年後進行追蹤問卷調查，追蹤僱用成果。
• 整合行為與技術評估，以評估候選人的動機與技術素養。
• 將該計劃作為雙重用途工具：篩選具備潛力的候選人，並在正式到職前提供針對性的技能提升。

实验结果

研究问题

• RQ1 近期電腦科學與工程畢業生在多大程度上具備產業所要求的實務軟件工程技能？
• RQ2 結構化的產業培訓計劃在提升畢業生技術與專業準備程度方面有多麼有效？
• RQ3 就業前培訓計劃能否作為識別高潛力候選人的可靠篩選機制？
• RQ4 完成此類培訓計劃的畢業生長期僱用成果如何？
• RQ5 參與者在接觸產業相關培訓後，對軟件工程實務的態度如何演變？

主要发现

• 暑期學校的50%參與者在完成計劃後數個月內被資助公司僱用。
• 訓練前後的評估顯示，參與者在技術技能與專業態度方面均有明顯進步。
• 該訓練計劃成功識別出具備優異工作表現與適應能力潛力的候選人。
• 追蹤數據顯示，被僱用的畢業生在職位上表現良好，顯示該計劃具備預測有效性。
• 參與者認為該計劃極具價值，並表現出持續專業發展的強烈意願。
• 該計畫證明，結構化且與產業對齊的培訓能有效彌合學術教育與產業期望之間的差距。