Opportunities and Challenges for Software Engineering Education

As we approach the 21st century, we are aware of our ever-increasing reliance on computer-based systems. These systems, which range from information systems to embedded systems, represent a crucial component of today' s workplace. An increasing number of these systems are mission-critical systems. The software engineer of the future must be prepared to develop the large, complex systems that will be required. Educating software engineers with the knowledge they need to meet the ever-changing demands of today' s global workplace represents a true academic challenge. We will discuss numerous software engineering education issues, including the current state of software engineering education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Finally, we will discuss some specific opportunities and difficulties with educating the software engineer for the next century.