“Who will solve the grassroots problems?” A former IIT director had recently asked this question while highlighting that all the top-ranking students are opting for computer science and allied fields. According to the data shared by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA), out of the top 100 rank holders in JEE, as many as 97 have opted for a course in computer science.
Those who select non-CSE engineering fields also tend to take up IT jobs as they relatively pay higher salaries. “Organisations in the IT services sector are the major employers for students in core engineering branches as well. They consider this to be a trainable pool to do some tech jobs at the lower end. This makes every student enrolled for engineering aspiring for an IT job,” said S Pasupathi, Chief Operating Officer, HirePro.
According to the data by global job site Monster.com, among the engineering graduates seeking jobs, as many as 68% are from a core engineering background. The seekers actually get into IT companies during their campus placements as companies such as Infosys, TCS, and CTS recruit newcomers with engineering background. Meanwhile, the core concepts get isolated and it’s difficult to move back to core domains therefore they continue their career along the same path.
Students Leave IITs for the Love of CSE
“It is a well-known pattern that top rankers in JEE advanced prefer to opt for Computer Science and related courses. It is also observed that some students are not joining IITs, as they are not able to get CSE on the basis of their JEE Advanced rank, and join NITs or BITS as they are able to get admission in CSE… These days, placement packages help in defining the attractiveness of a branch,” said Prof Rajat Agrawal, Associate Dean of Innovation and Incubation, IIT Roorkee, and Professor, Department of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee.
The rush towards CSE is leaving many core domains finding the right kind of talent. “Most engineering problems that we face today are related to core engineering areas such as Electronics, Electrical, Mechanical, Material Science, Civil, Energy, Environment, and Sustainability. The solutions for these problems often lie in the core engineering areas. Unfortunately, these problems are not being tackled as aggressively as they should be. Consequently, the opportunities in core engineering areas are not being exploited fully,” said Sneh Saurabh, Associate Professor, ECE department, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-Delhi).
‘Make Core Engineering Lucrative’
To exploit opportunities in core engineering areas, academic institutes need to re-design the curriculum for the core engineering fields, considering the newer skill sets that are actually needed by the industry.
If the curriculum in core engineering fields is developed keeping industry needs in mind, the graduating engineers will become more valuable to the industry, which will naturally reflect in increased salary and career opportunities, and consequently, core engineering branches will become more lucrative, said Saurabh, the IIIT Professor.
“In developing such a curriculum, closer collaboration and engagement are required between academics and industry. Some courses can be run jointly by industry-academia collaboration, in which universities/institutes may not have the required expertise on the state-of-the-art technology. This should not be a one-time effort,” he said.
IIT Roorkee Professor Agrawal too suggested integrating Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine learning with core engineering branches so that the employability scope of students in core branches can be enhanced.
“The scope of getting a minor specialisation in CSE along with a regular B. Tech in core engineering can be another solution for increasing the attractiveness of core branches. To make core branches more lucrative, it is important to provide more opportunity and facilities for start-ups in these branches,” said Prof Agrawal.
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