System Thinking: Educating T-Shaped Software Engineers

With respect to system thinking, a T-shaped person is one who has technical depth in at least one aspect of the system´s content, and a workable level of understanding of a fair number of the other system aspects. Many pure computer science graduates are strongly I-shaped, with a great deal of depth in software technology, but little understanding of the other disciplines involved in such areas as business, medicine, transportation, or Internets of Things. This leaves them poorly prepared to participate in the increasing numbers of projects involving multi-discipline system thinking, and in strong need of software skills. We have developed and evolved an MS-level software engineering curriculum that enables Computer Science (CS) majors to become considerably more T-shaped than when they entered. It includes courses in software management and economics, human-computer interaction, embedded software systems, systems and software requirements, architecture, and Verification and Validation (V&V), and a two-semester, real-client team project course that gives students experience in applying these skills. We find via feedback on the students´ internships and job experiences that they and their employers have high rates of success in job offers and job performance.