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2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

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The last decade has seen GIS evolve from a specialized science performed by highly-trained geospatial analysts working on high-powered desktop workstations, to a mass-market commodity app on a smart phone. Educators, as well as students feel overwhelmed by the diversity and the choices. Today, the field of GIS continues to evolve at an exponential rate. Where does that leave educators attempting to prepare tomorrow’s leaders? One way to make sense of the choices is to separate the educational focus into two parts, GIS in General Education and GIS Professionals. Just as basic computer operation is now a requirement for success, the time for GIS 101 as required freshman course has clearly arrived. In many cases, GIS is already being introduced in K-12. Advanced GIS tailored for every major from biology to business is also essential for today’s spatially literate society. For GIS professionals, there are further choices that must be made or they will risk drowning in a sea of generalization. Educators face the same dilemma: From Infrastructure, to enterprise deployment; from database design to geospatial programming; from hand-held, highly accurate data-collecting devices logging one point at a time, to aerial and terrestrial lidar systems collecting billions of points an hour, no one person can master it all. Industry needs and hires specialists to do a specific job. The challenge is to stay abreast of, and ahead of, the next “new thing”.

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Page 1: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand
Page 2: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

WHAT DO EMPLOYERS WANT

The last decade has seen GIS evolve from a specialized science performed by highly trained geospatial analysts working on high-powered desktop workstations with

main frame data farms

To a mass-market commodity app on a smart phone.

Page 3: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

OVERWHELMING CHOICES

Educators, as well as students feel overwhelmed by the diversity and the choices.

Page 4: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

OVERWHELMING CHOICES

One way to make sense of the choices is to separate the educational focus into two parts, GIS in General Education and GIS Professionals.

Page 5: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

GIS JOBS ON MONSTER.COM

GIS Jobs on Monster.com

Keyword: “Geographic Information Systems”

Eliminates: Logistics, Registered Nurse

265 Full Time Jobs added last 2 weeks

All of the US

Page 6: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

GIS JOBS ADDED

46

177

265

447

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Day One Week Two Weeks Month

Page 7: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

DEGREE REQUIRED?

(244), 92%

(21), 8%

Degree Required

Degree Not Required

Page 8: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

TYPE OF DEGREE REQUIRED

Computer Science, (146), 60%

Engineering, (51), 21%

GIS /Geography, (20), 8%

"Related", (27), 11%

Page 9: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

DESIRED DEGREE LEVEL

(147), 60%

(85), 35%

(12), 5%

Degree Level

Bachelors

"Advanced"

PHD

Page 10: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

DEVELOPER/ NON DEVELOPER

(204), 77%

(61), 23%

Developer

Not Devloper

Page 11: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

(102,) 84%

(20), 16%

Java

other

Page 12: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

PERCENT OF JOB INVOLVING GIS FUNCTIONS

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100% 50% 20% Footenoe

Page 13: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

INDUSTRY

4%7%

13%

17%

21%

38%

Edu

Environmental

Remote Sensing

Gov/Military

Oil/ Gas / Electric

Other

Page 14: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

SUMMARY

• The time for GIS 101 as required freshman course has clearly arrived. In many cases, GIS is already being introduced in K‐12

• Advanced GIS tailored for a every major from biology to business is also essential for today’s spatially literate society.

• For GIS professionals, there are further choices that must be made or they will risk drowning in a sea of generalization.

Page 15: 2012 Education Track, Generalize or Specialize? What does industry need students to know?, Lynn Hand

SUMMARY

• Educators face the same dilemma: Infrastructure, Networks & Database Design Geospatial programming; Data Collection Hand‐held, highly accurate data‐collecting devices logging one point at a time,  aerial and terrestrial lidar systems collecting billions of points an hour, no one person can master it all.

Industry needs and hires specialists to do a specific job.