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As any tech company can tell you, there is a major shortage of engineers in the U.S., particularly computer programmers.
Code.org, a non-profit founded by entrepreneurs Hadi Partovi and his brother Ali Partovi, is launching a campaign to try to get more computer science courses and more students studying programming. The group shot a short film (see above), bringing together famous entrepreneurs and celebrities who encourage students to get into programming.
The cast in the film includes: Partovi, Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat, Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Square, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Drew Houston of Dropbox, Tony Hsieh of Zappos, Gabe Newell of Valve, Ruchi Sanghvi of Dropbox, will.i.am, and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. In the film, Zuckerberg, Newell and others talk about their first programming experiences and why the got into the field. They also talk about the shortage of programmers in the field. And who knew Bosh studied programming in college?
Partovi says computer science isn't emphasized enough by U.S. schools. Currently 41 out of 50 states don't recognize computer science as a math or science graduation credit. And nine out of ten schools don't teach computer programming. At the college level, 2% of students graduate with computer science degrees.
Partovi also cites estimates that 1.4 million programming jobs will be needed over the next decade while current projections are for only 400,000 graduates in the field.
While movies like "The Social Network" may have made programming more attractive as a profession, there are still perceptions that Partovi wants to change. "One is, people think, 'It's too hard for me,'" Partovi says. "Adults assume their daughters can't learn this stuff. They don't realize 10 year olds can learn this." The second roadblock is people think they'll be isolated working in a dark basement somewhere. Third, high school counselors think computer programming jobs are all overseas so students shouldn't study it, Partovi says.
In addition to the video, Partovi's group is working with an advisory board that includes Marc Andreessen, Ron Conway and Nicholas Negroponte to work on projects such as encouraging more schools to offer programming classes. Partovi says the program will not only help the tech industry, but it will also help the American economy by providing more skilled workers who can get high paying jobs in the U.S. "This directly helps the tech industry and U.S. economy," he says.
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