When Azza Abouzied gets her master's degree in computer science this year, she'll be the envy of many recent university graduates. Not only is she essentially guaranteed a job in her field, but chances are, it's her prospective employers who will be sweating the interview.

"Enrolment is low, and companies are realizing that, so they're kind of competing to get students," said the 21-year-old Dalhousie University student.

According to a recently released study, the competition is about to get even fiercer. An Information and Communications Technology Council report shows that current enrolments in computer science and computer engineering faculties across Canada have dropped significantly since the dot-com bubble burst. With the exception of British Columbia, enrolments have dropped between 36% and 64% from a peak in 2002, when a wave of layoffs in the IT industry resulted in a shift in public perception, and computer science was no longer seen as a stable career path.

The study, co-authored by Jacob Slonim, past dean of computer science at Dalhousie University, finds that the Atlantic provinces have suffered one of the most marked declines. "Nova Scotia is exactly like all the rest. We have difficulties here. The number has dropped significantly, close to 50%," Slonim says.

The study predicts that trend will result in fewer undergraduate students completing their degrees until at least 2011. While the drop in enrolment means better job prospects for computer science grads, Slonim says hard times are ahead for the IT sector - and the economy. "The industry will start to feel it in the next few years," he said...

http://www.novascotiabusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?sid=102986&sc=107