From Strain to Spark: Examining the Detachment-Flexibility-Innovation Mechanism in IT Workplaces

The following article presents an approach on the extension of WorkDesigner—a simulation-based software tool for the strain-based staffing in industrial manufacturing—for the prospective design of IT work places. After a short introduction of WorkDesigner, the common economical and technical need for the individual design of IT work places is described in the following chapters. Here the current mega trend Digital Transformation takes center stage. Chapter 4 presents additional parameters for the adaption of WorkDesigner to the drafted “digital” needs. Finally, the results and the future developments are discussed.

IT workplaces constitute a particularly interesting scenario where to analyze the implementation of gender affirmative action. Literature considers the new labour context of IT workplaces, to offer some distinctive opportunities for women’s employment in terms of their level of education and labour flexibility (Castells, 1998; Vendramin and Valenduc, 2000; Korte, and Gareis, 2001), and the emergence of greater possibilities for achieving work-life balance. A better balance between work and non-work activities is possible where work is uncoupled from the constraints of fixed time and location through the application of IT, making it easier to combine paid work with child-care. New small IT-based businesses could be founded by women escaping the ‘glass ceiling’ of the bureaucratic male culture of the modern organisation. The internet is said to be free of gender (and race) bias because communication is impersonal and gender neutral, thus Internet-based trade and business (e-commerce) could be a fruitful source of new occupations for women on an equal basis with men (Stanworth, 2000). The rise of horizontal corporations, built on electronically mediated networks and teamwork rather than hierarchy, should improve women’s representation in management (Coyle, 1993). All this means that, the persistence of gender discrimination in access to IT jobs and particularly to technical, professional and management positions is difficult to explain. This is especially true if one takes into consideration that these are new sectors with supposedly non-traditional cultures in which gender prejudices are not necessarily established and within which the importance of human capital is recognised, and talent strategically elevated as a key criteria in the selection of human resources.

In 21st-century workplaces, where the pace of digital change is fast, ethical issues are exponential, with 70% workers indicating unease due to AI. In particular, millennials and Gen Z expressed 30% more ethical and trust-related concerns in AI workplaces. Although AI rapid integration in workplaces has increased lately, including Healthcare and IT, generational differences in digital ethics perceptions remain a neglected aspect of influencing employee well-being, and that is what this review seeks to determine with the following objectives: i) to synthesize existing research on generational attitudes toward digital ethics in AI-driven healthcare and IT workplaces. ii) to examine the relationship between generational attitudes toward digital ethics and employee well-being, including stress, trust, and job satisfaction, among employees aged 24 to 55 in AI-driven health and IT workplaces, and iii) to identify research gaps and provide practical recommendations for organizations to foster ethical AI adoption through training, clear policies, and inclusive practices in multigenerational workplaces. Following the PRISMA framework, a systematic review was conducted, and data were sourced across three databases, i.e., ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Google Scholar, using keywords “digital ethics”, generational differences”, well-being, and AI workplaces with Boolean operators. A total of 33 full-text studies were included that met the inclusion criteria. The results showed a significant generational disparity in the interpretation of digital ethics, with the younger employees being more accepting and the older generation being more concerned about AI-related privacy and transparency. Such perceptual differences affect employees’ psychological well-being, trust, stress, and job satisfaction, more particularly in the field of healthcare, regarding ethical sensitivity related to patient data privacy.

Several factors may explain the underrepresentation of women in IT. One reason is the portrayal of the IT workplace as hostile, or at least inhospitable, to women. Long work hours, a frenetic pace, and few family-friendly benefits are believed to characterize many IT work environments (Howard, 1995; Lambeth, 1996; Panteli, Stack, & Ramsay, 1999). Another reason is the perception that IT careers afford little social interaction or support (Misic & Graf, 1999). The stereotype of the IT worker as a “geek” who works in isolation from others may be less appealing to women than men (Spender, 1997). Moreover, white males are most frequently portrayed as IT professionals in the media, are most likely to have role models and support systems, and work in work environments that reflect their values and learning styles (Balcita, Carver, & Soffa, 2002). Subtle biases in stereotyping and language use and working in a white male culture may contribute to feelings of exclusion for women. Finally, male IT supervisors may be less likely to develop supportive relationships with women than men (Ragins, 2002), thereby reducing their bond to the organization and leading to their eventual dissatisfaction and departure from IT work and the organizations that employ them (Lee, 2004). Our research examines how characteristics of the IT workplace can foster inclusion and equal opportunity for IT employees (see Major, Davis, Sanchez-Hucles, Germano, & Mann, 2006). We are particularly interested in identifying barriers and enablers to the career success of women and minorities in IT departments. During Phase 1 of this three-year project, IT departments completed a Web-based survey designed to understand the factors that shape the access that IT employees have to opportunities in the workplace. During Phase 2 of the project, we provided the IT departments with feedback from our survey, conducted focus groups and structured supervisor interviews, and worked with the organizations to identify and implement changes designed to increase opportunity and inclusion for IT employees. During Phase 3 of this project, we administered another survey to assess the effectiveness of the interventions implemented during Phase 2. The remainder of this chapter describes our sample, survey measures, and research methodology.

This study looks into (1) the frequency with which Australian IT professionals compromise security to meet deadlines; (2) the causes of unprofessional behavior in the IT work place; (3) the best approach for tackling unprofessional behavior; and the effectiveness of this approach. These issues were addressed using a mixed research methodology that involved three data collection stages with the input of each stage being the output of the earlier stage. In the first stage, we conducted a survey of 2,315 Australian IT professionals which the Australian Computer Society helped promote. In the second stage, we interviewed 43 Australian IT professionals from six different Australian state capitals to understand the causes of unprofessional behavior in the IT work place and the best approach for tackling unprofessional behavior. Following the research participants’ suggestions, I implemented the approach suggested by the majority of participants. I then shared the links of the approach I implemented with the Australian IT professionals via the Australian Computer Society. In the final stage, I interviewed 28 IT professionals to receive their feedback with regards to the effectiveness of this approach in enhancing young IT professionals’ abilities to recognize unprofessional behavior. This paper presents the results from the three stages of this study.

Evaluates gap between traditional library and LIS and needs of the IT workplace. Includes literature review of characteristics which knowledge and information managers need in the private sector. Three surveys were carried out via questionnaires and compared with literature review. Surveys were of business needs, LIS courses content, and experience of LIS graduates. Results suggest that while LIS graduates are being equipped with the necessary skills, the view of “the librarian” is impeding entry of LIS graduates into the knowledge management employment sector. Graduates with LIS skills need to market themselves more effectively in the IT workplace.

The effectiveness of a user at a workstation can be affected by high luminance contrasts or glare in the working area or by reflections on the screen itself. The former degrades the overall performance of the user and the latter, their ability to read and react to the actual information presented on the screen. This can lead to an increase in the amount of time taken to complete a task, and an increase in the error rate. Poor image quality can also lead to postural problems, e.g. stiff necks and hands, as the user tries to adjust position to avoid glare or reflected images. The direct cost of medical treatment of injuries caused by poor posture, for example carpel tunnel syndrome, may be substantial. There are additional hidden costs associated with loss of productivity caused by the injury to the user. In order to produce a visual environment suitable for the use of display screens as well as the other tasks in the area the designer needs to consider the range of luminances present, the avoidance of disability glare and the avoidance of reflected images on the screen. The author discusses the relevant legislation, directives and guides, direct and indirect lighting, combined lighting, and daylight and windows.

The story of the IT merit culture making project, merit valorization, and caste reproduction is contextualized in the historical development of the Indian IT revolution, with its mixed implications. A portrait of the IT organization, work structures, and the merit culture making project is developed using the work experiences of rank-and-file IT professionals and other scholarly writings. Subjective IT merit metrics, such as English fluency, habits of the mind-intellect-spirit, integration, and other ‘soft’ skills of communication open up loopholes or spaces for introducing, sorting out, and stratifying IT employees by traditional social vectors of caste and even community, and religion. Caste positionality, filtering, and related pattern recognition in the hiring, retention, and promotion decision making in the IT work place have become the conduits through which caste dynamics are reproduced and reinforced in the Indian IT, transforming it into the new vector of inequality.

This paper presents an innovative description and an initial implementation of the “Students Team Achievement Divisions (STAD)” collaboration method (Slavin, 1978), in the form of an online adaptive collaborative design-pattern that has been constructed taking into account adaptation techniques, within the context of an open-source learning design-based environments such as the LAMS system (Dalziel, 2003). This method is described with special reference to the learning of essential aspects of an Information System. The innovative description of the aforementioned collaborative method within the LAMS system is based on the fact that: (a) the tasks assigned to the groups consist of investigation of real world scenarios, and not merely the study of learning material as is usually proposed, (b) adaptive techniques are integrated with the method and (c) for the design of the collaborative learning activity, an intuitive learning design tool such as the LAMS system is used. A research study was also conducted aiming the development of an empirical model to allow the implementation of the aforementioned adaptive STAD collaborative method within the context of an IT work place, namely; the Legal Council of the Hellenic State. In fact, the data gathered from this study were used to build the initial learning profile of the user –that is needed for the implementation of Phase 2 of the previously mentioned adaptive STAD collaborative method- so that to be able to provide him/her personalized training, monitoring, scaffolding and evaluation.

NeuroLegalNet-RC: A ResNet-Capsule Network for Legal Regularization of Mental Well-Being in IT Workplaces

Technology is not the sole component of the IT workplace. the type of company and its culture are also major factors. These elements have a unique significance for executive managers, IT managers, and regular IT employees. Understanding these differences has implications for all related to the IT community.

Contents: Preface PART I: WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN STEM: THE BIG PICTURE 1. Women and Minorities in STEM: A Primer Ronald J. Burke 2. Keys to Success for Women in Science Donna J. Dean and Anne Fleckenstein PART II: EXPERIENCES OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN STEM 3. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Women Engineering Students' Experiences of UK Higher Education Abigail Powell, Barbara Bagilhole and Andrew Dainty 4. Myths and Realities in the IT Workplace: Gender Differences and Similarities in Climate Perceptions Debra A. Major, Donald D. Davis, Janis Sanchez-Hucles, Heather J. Downey and Lisa M. Germano 5. Voices of the Future: African-American PhD Candidates in the Sciences Daryl E. Chubin 6. Women in the Land of Milk, Honey and High Technology: The Israeli Case Ronit Kark 7. An Empirical Test of the Glass Ceiling Effect for Asian Americans in Science and Engineering Tina T. Chen and James L. Farr PART III: BUILDING INTEREST AND COMMITMENT TO STEM 8. Women in Mathematics: Examining the Hidden Barriers that Gender Stereotypes Can Impose Jennifer R. Steele, Leah Reisz, Amanda Williams and Kerry Kawakami 9. Attracting the Engineers of 2020 Today Susan Staffin Metz 10. Developing Career Commitment in STEM-related Fields: Myths versus Reality Helen M. Madill, Rachel G. Campbell, Dallas M. Cullen, Margaret-Ann Armour, Albert A. Einsiedel, Anna-Lisa Ciccocioppo, Jody Sherman, Leonard L. Stewin, Stanley Varnhagen, T. Craig Montgomerie, Cynthia J. Rothwell and Wendy L. Coffin PART IV: ENRICHING THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE 11. Achieving Greater Diversity through Curricular Change Ilene J. Busch-Vishniac and Jeffrey P. Jarosz 12. Undergraduate Student Support Programs Bevlee A. Watford PART V: IMPROVING THE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 13. The Representation and Experience of Women Faculty in STEM Fields Xiangfen Liang and Diana Bilimoria 14. Upstream and Downstram in the Engineering Pipeline: What's Blocking US Women from Pursuing Engineering Careers? Mary C. Mattis Index

An Integrated Virtual Ethnographic Study: Use of Computerised Social Networks to Transfer Tacit Knowledge for Mass Collaboration in the IT Workplace

Enhancing stress detection in IT workplaces: Integrating machine learning, visual processing, and privacy-enhancing techniques

The Transition of Women from the Academic World to the IT Workplace: A Review of the Relevant Research