A selfie with Donavan Kealoha and Keala Chock at East Meets West 2020 Before COVID-19 changed the world around us, I participated on a panel during the East Meets West conference (EMW20) in Honolulu. The panel was called, "Indigenous Entrepreneurs – Bringing Cultural Values to Startups." During our time on stage in January, I shared a thesis I've been thinking about lately: Software Engineering is an Honorable Profession.
As a recap, the primary objective of the Paubox Kahikina Scholarship is to encourage Native Hawaiians to pursue careers in computer science and software development. The scholarship is recurring in nature; which means recipients receive $1,000 per year until they graduate (5 year maximum). Today we announced the 2020 Paubox Kahikina Scholarship recipients. As I reflect on the decision-making processes used for recipient selection, I realize there's a lot on my mind about why I chose to prioritize Computer Science majors over other laudable STEM careers. This post is about why I believe software engineering is an honorable profession.
Insatiable Demand
Eric Nakagawa (Software Engineer @ Facebook) Take a few seconds to think about the coolest, most innovative products and brands out there. Do companies like Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Tesla, Twitch, and Airbnb come to mind? Every one of these companies rely on software engineers to write code to run their platforms. Yes, even Tesla uses millions of lines of code to operate its cars. And yes, these software engineers get paid handsomely to do it (we'll get to that shortly). Everywhere you look, software engineers are writing code to create, support, and disrupt entire industries.
Market demand for software engineers is not a new trend
In 2011, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that coined the term, software is eating the world. In his seminal piece, Marc outlined why he believes software companies are "poised to take over large swathes of the economy." He also recognized the remarkable need for software engineers: "Many people in the U.S. and around the world lack the education and skills required to participate in the great new companies coming out of the software revolution. This is a tragedy since every company I work with is absolutely starved for talent. Qualified software engineers, managers, marketers and salespeople in Silicon Valley can rack up dozens of high-paying, high-upside job offers any time they want..." Now, even nine years later, there still aren't enough software engineers out there. Not by a long shot. I expect this trend of insatiable demand for software engineers to continue sans abatement for the next 20 years.
Speed to market

Wealth Generation

- Microsoft
- Apple Inc.
- Amazon.com
- Alphabet Inc. (Google)
- Alibaba Group
- Tencent
- Berkshire Hathaway
- Visa
- Johnson & Johnson
Of those ten, seven were founded by people with computer science and software engineering backgrounds. In fact, those same seven occupy the top seven spots. From a perspective of generating profound wealth, software engineers outrank:
- MBAs
- Attorneys
- Doctors
- Fund managers
- Any other profession you can think of
This is where the world is heading. Don't you want to be a part of it?
Conclusion

- Recognizing trends
- Optimizing for them to make lots of money
- Deploying that money to help your family and loved ones
That sounds like an honorable profession to me.