Software engineering is a young field. While I think separate SE and CS degrees is how things should be in the future, I'm not sure it's the right thing to do now. I recognize that SE programs do exist, but we (as a species) are still new at building software. We've been doing the other engineering disciplines much longer. And as you point out, we're unlikely to see programs split in a poor economy.
(I do have to disagree with your point 3: building it is very much engineering. I consider IT management and service of computing resources and information.)
All true, I think the very fact that we can have an interesting discussion about where the three major disciplines draw their respective lines is evidence of the immaturity of the respective fields.
I have a feeling that, with the way the three disciplines overlap, when everything finally shakes out we'll probably see the formation of a few more disciplines. We've been doing math, science, engineering and building things for thousands of years, but software for not even a century.
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Software engineering is a young field. While I think separate SE and CS degrees is how things should be in the future, I'm not sure it's the right thing to do now. I recognize that SE programs do exist, but we (as a species) are still new at building software. We've been doing the other engineering disciplines much longer. And as you point out, we're unlikely to see programs split in a poor economy.
(I do have to disagree with your point 3: building it is very much engineering. I consider IT management and service of computing resources and information.)
All true, I think the very fact that we can have an interesting discussion about where the three major disciplines draw their respective lines is evidence of the immaturity of the respective fields.
I have a feeling that, with the way the three disciplines overlap, when everything finally shakes out we'll probably see the formation of a few more disciplines. We've been doing math, science, engineering and building things for thousands of years, but software for not even a century.