The Relevance of University Studies to Professional Skills Requirements of IT Workplaces: Australian IT Graduates’ Work Experiences

Abstract

Are university studies relevant to the professional skills requirements of Information Technology professional practice? Recent Australian IT graduates’ viewpoints on the challenges they face at work, the typical professional skills requirements of their practice and how they acquired or developed them, the elements of their university study that are relevant to their work professional skills requirements and how well their studies prepared them to meet the professional needs of their practice are discussed. An analysis of what the professional work experiences of these graduates in professional practice tell us about their university studies is also presented. The research findings will provide IT (and other) faculties in universities and employers with evidence to support the preparation of graduates for professional practice through the development of appropriate curricula and transition-to-work support programmes when graduates commence employment.