New Computer Science With Managament Degree Provides Key Skills For Employers

The University of Leicester has launched a new Computer Science with Management degree course, in response to comments from employers.

The course covers in depth the skills, the practice and technological foundations of software systems development, with a focus on business applications. This is combined with courses aimed at developing an understanding of Management techniques and theories, in particular as they apply to IT.

Rajeev Raman, Professor and Head of Computer Science at the University of Leicester, said the UK’s official graduate careers website, Prospects.ac.uk, had identified the need for graduates to be equipped with IT and management skills: “The key to success in the IT-market lies in choosing a course with content relevant to industry and which nurtures in the undergraduate a business acumen to supplement technical knowledge”. A recent article in the Financial Times quoted Larry Hirst, chief executive of IBM UK and chairman of e-skills UK as saying “The skills we are short of are way up the value chain, such as project management.”

The degree also covers wider aspects of both subjects, such as the structure of computers, their operating systems and how they communicate, and specialised topics in Management.

The degree is offered in conjunction with the Management Centre at the University of Leicester, which is rapidly emerging as one of the country’s top management schools with significant recent investment in top-ranking research staff.

Professor Raman said: “At the end of the degree, students will have both a thorough grounding in the core subjects of Computer Science, and detailed knowledge of their chosen higher level topics. They will learn to critically analyse and evaluate issues that arise in the complex and changing organisational environment in which today’s business IT solutions are developed.

“Students will also gain valuable transferable skills in problem-solving and written and oral communication. Having successfully graduated from a rigorous and intellectually demanding degree programme, students will be ideally prepared for their future careers.”