The MSCS New Pathways Consortium - a National Invitation

High tech is the U.S. economy's fastest growing sector. Yet, the current tech talent pipeline falls far short of meeting demand. What's more, the demographics of the tech workforce remain stubbornly out of sync with the overall population. This is in large part because our education system still struggles to attract diverse people into computational disciplines. Women represent more than 50% of Bachelor's degree recipients, but only 19% of computer science (CS) graduates. Similarly, underrepresented minorities represent 25% of Bachelor's degree recipients, but just 10% of CS graduates. The diversity of thought, race, background, and gender in CS is essential to building a robust, high quality, and ethical tech sector. One place where innovation might bridge the gap - a place historically overlooked by higher education - is the Master's degree. Since 2013, Northeastern University's Khoury College of Computer Sciences has been testing, refining, and growing the Align program, a Master's of Science in computer science (MSCS) for people who studied something other than CS as undergraduates. The goal is to create a new pathway or onramp to CS for all students, paying particular attention to the recruitment and success of women and underrepresented minorities. In mid2019, we launched the MSCS New Pathways Consortium - an effort to collaborate with colleges and universities across the country to scale this approach. Here, we invite others to join the Consortium and, together, make the MSCS the new MBA, a professional degree that people can access regardless of prior experience and knowledge of computing.