IT Career Research Articles

Starting your future career in IT

Abstract Zoe Spilberg and Stephen Tweed from BCS are joined by guests Anne Marie Imafidon MBE, Kolawole Ojo, Richard Amafonye FBCS and Adesina Simon Sodiya FNCS to discuss the BCS HEQ pathway, its impact in Nigeria and the burgeoning opportunity for careers in IT. Blair Melsom MBCS reports.

IT Career aspirations in Bangladesh: a Trigger for development?

ABSTRACT Saxenian’s concept of ‘brain circulation’ explains how a developing country can benefit when its diaspora community returns home to accelerate economic growth, but it says little about who leaves a country in the first place, and why they leave. We consider this issue in the context of Bangladesh’s IT sector and focus on university students’ aspirations for careers abroad. Based on a survey of 591 undergraduate IT students, we find that students’ aspirations bifurcate into those hoping to work in English-speaking developed countries and those expecting to remain in Bangladesh, and that the difference correlates with parental income, attendance at elite universities, gender, and the presence of role models. We also find that parental income is predictive of what factors students value in a job. Findings are discussed in relation to socio-cognitive career theory, with implications for interventions that could improve IT brain circulation in Bangladesh and beyond.

Why Are Women Underrepresented in the American IT Industry? The Role of Explicit and Implicit Gender Identities

Gender inequality in the IT profession is an acute issue with major individual, societal, and national implications. In this study, we build on the individual differences theory of gender and IT and extend it to account for subconscious processes that may drive women away from IT university majors and IT career choices. We specifically theorize on how the asymmetric roles of explicit and implicit gender identity facets impact the major selection of men and women students and affect their decisions to pursue the IT profession. To do so, this study introduces the concept of implicit gender identity, defined as the degree to which men and women subconsciously, automatically, and uncontrollably associate themselves with the masculine and feminine gender groups, respectively. We obtained data from 185 pre-major selection university students by means of a survey and the Implicit Association Test. The findings revealed that implicit gender identity was a significant predictor of IT major and career choices for women but not for men university students. Explicit gender identity had no influence on IT major and career choices for men or women university students. Nevertheless, men’s and women’s IT major and career choices appear to be similarly influenced by normative pressures. IT skills and IT work experience also impact such choices. Ultimately, this study shows that implicit gender identity can be a factor that drives women university students away from the IT profession and contributes to the gender gap in the field.

Barriers, Role Models, and Diversity – Women in IT

Despite the growing need for IT professionals all around Europe, women are still severely underrepresented in IT-related fields. According to Eurostat, female IT specialists constitute only 16.5% of the workforce in the EU28 countries. Gender imbalance, however, is conspicuous already in higher education: only 23% of students majoring in IT are women. The reasons why girls are reluctant to consider a career in IT are complex. Based on the analysis of recent literature review papers about young women’s barriers, we can differentiate four basic obstacles that keep girls from IT: social, educational, self-efficacy, and labour market factors. In order to overcome these obstacles, the necessary tools are the presence of role models, the promotion of diverse IT paths, and inclusive teaching environments. The present paper aims to introduce a study conducted within the settings of a non-degree, tertiary Computer Science program, with the usual scarcity of female students and a high dropout rate. As part of their program, students also need to attend an interdisciplinary course, in which they are exposed to an inclusive teaching environment, the presentations of role models, and diverse career paths. Before, during, and after the course, students were asked to reflect on the issues of barriers, diversity, and role models, which were analysed in a quantitative and qualitative manner. As a follow up, female graduates of the program, already working as software developers, were surveyed about the same questions, in order to explore what women who do end up in IT careers share.

Barriers, Role Models, and Diversity – Women in IT

Despite the growing need for IT professionals all around Europe, women are still severely underrepresented in IT-related fields. According to Eurostat, female IT specialists constitute only 16.5% of the workforce in the EU28 countries. Gender imbalance, however, is conspicuous already in higher education: only 23% of students majoring in IT are women. The reasons why girls are reluctant to consider a career in IT are complex. Based on the analysis of recent literature review papers about young women’s barriers, we can differentiate four basic obstacles that keep girls from IT: social, educational, self-efficacy, and labour market factors. In order to overcome these obstacles, the necessary tools are the presence of role models, the promotion of diverse IT paths, and inclusive teaching environments. The present paper aims to introduce a study conducted within the settings of a non-degree, tertiary Computer Science program, with the usual scarcity of female students and a high dropout rate. As part of their program, students also need to attend an interdisciplinary course, in which they are exposed to an inclusive teaching environment, the presentations of role models, and diverse career paths. Before, during, and after the course, students were asked to reflect on the issues of barriers, diversity, and role models, which were analysed in a quantitative and qualitative manner. As a follow up, female graduates of the program, already working as software developers, were surveyed about the same questions, in order to explore what women who do end up in IT careers share.

Learning about Programming and Epistemic Emotions: A Gendered Analysis

Programming courses often turn into courses with high percentage of desertion and, sometimes, result in a factor that drives students to abandon their careers, even when they are subjects highly relevant in the training of engineers in the areas of computer science, IT, and related careers. These courses demand high cognitive processes, which generate several emotions learning-related that, when taken into account and evaluated, could be used in favor of learning. Programming courses generate negative emotions in female students in a higher proportion than men, which may even lead them to abandon the career, widening the gender gap. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the role of emotions in academic environments at university level, as well as for knowing the reason for the low participation of women, despite the importance of their role and skills, in computing areas. However, the interest in analyzing the emotions that emerge from students as they learn to program is quite recent. There is not an important number of studies around the emotions of women while they learn to program. The objective of this study is to analyze the behavior -at an emotional level- of students towards different teaching activities, establishing gender level comparisons, and considering the incorporation of elements of collaboration and gamification to identify differences in the emotions originated by these activities.

GENDER COMPONENT OF THE LIBRARY PROFESSION: CONTENT ANALYSIS OF PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

The article deals with gender segregation on the example of the IT sphere of modern libraries. The characteristic of this problem is presented through the research of professional journal editions of the USA and Russia during 1980–2017 in the context of the analysis of the gender of the authors of the publications. According to the results of the study, including content analysis of librarianship publications, which cover the issues of IT implementation in the work of libraries, it was found that the following signs of gender segregation exist: almost a uniform distribution of scientific publications among women and men which represent the IT field in the library, despite the background of the female contingent among the library staff; there is a significant quantitative advantage of male co-authors; IT majors are more likely to collaborate with their female counterparts to develop collaborative projects, which is reflected in co-authored publications about IT issues; there is a slight tendency of increase of the number of women authors of publications in the professional library publications with a technical bias in recent years. It has been found that, despite some successes, women librarians are not only less published than men in professional information technology magazines, but also less represented in the IT field of the library. It is noted that the effective methods to address the issue of gender segregation in the work of modern libraries can be: participation in activities to promote IT careers by implementing on-the-job training programs, mentoring and internships, creating online networks for women in IT, involvement of women in research and innovation in order to develop their capacity to apply creative approaches and to fill research with new content.

Michel Houellebecq, information management and our new dark age

Rejecting readings that seek to celebrate the unique, creative voice of the literary author, this essay strives to describe an element of the deep cultural logic at work in Michel Houellebecq’s fiction. To do so, the essay embraces and considers the appropriation, or what has been described as plagiarism, of Houellebecq’s literary style, suggesting a relationship with the structure of feeling of the contemporary information age. Taking its starting point as Houellebecq’s own former career in IT, it posits that his work can be read as both a symptom of, and a reaction to, the anxious information overload of contemporary society rather than only a continuation, or reactivation, of the realist novel. In doing so, it proposes a more comparative and conceptual approach to reading Houellebecq than perhaps the French studies community has done to date, and itself transgresses the tendency to read Houellebecq within the frame provided by the canonical, frequently nineteenth-century, French novel.

High Flying Data Collection With Drones

Abstract Matthew Greaves, founder of Drones on Demand, tells Johanna Hamilton AMBCS about his IT career facilitating transformative change and how he discovered a whole new data solution in the form of drones.

Becoming a Workplace IT Instructor from an IT Expert who Strived to Combine Working and Learning

이 연구의 주된 내용은 일터에서 배움을 지속적으로 추구하였던 기술자가 IT 전문가로 성장 한 후에 일터 전문 강사로 거듭나게 되는 삶의 궤적과 그 속에서 드러나는 내면의 변화(열정, 신념, 비전 등) 및 그에 따른 고차적 양상을 탐구하는 것이다. 이를 위해 우리는 정보통신 기술직 업무에 대한 경험을 20년 이상 갖고 있으며 일터에서 현장교사 경험을 지닌 김준우를 대상으로 심층면담을 5회 실시하였다. 우리는 면담 전사 자료를 토대로 시간흐름표를 작성하여 연구참여자의 삶과 경험 속에서 드러나는 주요 측면을 포착하였으며 그에 대한 해석의 결과를 개인에 대한 초상으로 묘사하였다. 우리는 그가 초보기술자에서 IT 전문가로 성장한 후에 일터강사로 거듭나면서 겪었던 일터 경험과 배움을 통해 변화되었던 총체적인 양상 속에서 드러나는 일터강사의 본질적인 측면을 묘사하는데 중점을 두었다. 재혼한 가정에서 성장하였던 김준우는 고등학교 2학년 때 가출하여 첫 직업을 가지면서 일터에서 배우는 경험을 하게 되었다. 그 이후에 전문대에서 전자공학을 공부하였고 졸업 후에 정보통신 분야에서 타고난 기술에 대한 재능과 배움에의 열정이 결합하여 승진을 거듭하게 되었다. 그러나 40대 중반에 전환기를 맞이하면서 자신에 대한 성찰과 일터에서의 경험을 토대로 초보 직원들을 이끌어주는 특별 아카데미 프로그램을 기획하여 운영하는 강사로 변신하게 되었다. 생육의 관점을 가지게 되었던 그는 사람에 대하여 갖는 믿음, 사랑, 자신감 등을 중요시하면서 초보 기술자들에게 자신의 일터 경험과 체화된 지식을 나누어 주고자 하였다. “결여가 완전한 인간으로 되돌아가게 하는 원동력이 될 수 있다”는 것을 깨닫게 되었던 김준우는 마음을 열고 감정을 두드리는 그만의 코칭 기법을 적용하여 학습자의 변화를 이끌어내면서 기업현장과 사회에 기여할 수 있다는 비전을 보여주었다.This paper aims to understand the experiences of a technician who had became an IT expert and then a workplace instructor, striving hard to seek learning opportunity in the filed of working, from qualitative perspectives by looking into the trace of his life and changes in his inner-self (passion, commitment, vision), along with changes at higher-level aspects in the process. Th e participant was an IT master who had more than 20 years of working and teaching experiences at several IT related companies. Th e researchers conducted in-depth interviews with him 5 times from May to August in 2016 and qualitatively analyzed the data based on the timeline to explore the major aspects in his life to defi ne his personal portrait. Out of his holistic experiences, the researchers tried to focus on describing the essential aspects of his pursuit for a successful IT career and eventually becoming a workplace teacher as he strived to combine working and learning together in his life path. The participant grew up in a remarried family and dropped out of the high school when he was 10th grade. After that, he got a job as a lens coating novice technician and he was able to learn in the workplace ever since in his entire career path. After college graduation, he entered a big IT company where he was eventually promoted to the top position as a technician thanks to his passion for learning and confidence in himself. As he reached the turning point of life in his mid-40s, he was motivated to open up an educational program to guide novice technicians to help them unleash his/her potential capabilities. He then tried to share his working experiences and knowledge with vocational high school students with his commitment to cultivating and unleashing their potentials. Aft er realizing that “Lacking something can provide a motivation to make a person complete,” he adopted his own ways of coaching to teach the workplace students with open heart and empathy with them, and practiced on the vision to contribute to business fi elds and the society, by driving good changes among students.

Anchoring Female Millennial Students in an IT Career Path: The CLASS Anchor Model

Anchoring Female Millennial Students in an IT Career Path: The CLASS Anchor Model

‘I’m not a gastarbeiter anymore’: liminal mobility of young Kazakh IT professionals in Russia

ABSTRACTIn the past decade, Moscow, St Petersburg, and Kazan have become ‘go to’ destinations for IT specialists from Russia and Central Asia. The ethos of technical creativity and ingenuity, combined with the presence of science, technology and engineering universities, is generating a profound momentum in IT worlds. The vibrant technology communities are becoming magnets for enthusiasts seeking to thrive amongst others with similar devotions. One example is young people from Kazakhstan who are ‘coming of age’ and forging IT careers in these cities. We introduce the concept of ‘liminal mobility’ to explore their narratives. The key roles are played by: secondary schooling situations involving Kazakh-Turkish lyceums; joint Kazakh/Russian programs in mathematics, physics, and IT; and recruitment in dormitories for part-time jobs that became ‘career-making’ positions. The analysis points to the significance of these connections in making the discrepant knowledge mobilities that are the focus of this special issue.

Sustaining and advancing IT careers: Women’s experiences in a UK-based IT company

This article contributes to a growing literature on women in IT occupations. Against a national and international context of women’s longstanding and continued under-representation in senior professional roles in IT, our study at organizational level tells the story of women’s career experiences in a specific UK-based IT company in relation to its culture, processes and practices. Utilising a concept from the gender literature – Acker’s (2006) ‘inequality regimes’ – the study bridges the gap between the gender and IS literature and feminist theorising in order to shed light on the lack of gender diversity in IT. The article specifically shows how components of organizational inequality regimes, namely, ‘organizing processes’, ‘legitimacy’ and ‘visibility’ of inequalities combine and interact to produce and maintain gender inequality in the IT workplace. The implications of this in the sector more generally are discussed.

Library employment

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the library employment in UAE and explore the perceptions of academic librarians toward job satisfaction, employment opportunities, employment challenges, and future actions needed to improve employment opportunities for librarians in UAE.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through an online survey questionnaire. A total of 62 academic librarians from public and private universities and colleges participated in the study. The collected data are analyzed to answer research questions and verify the hypotheses.FindingsRespondents expressed high satisfaction with salary and benefits, job positions, responsibilities given to them, and appreciations from senior management. However, they are found unsatisfied with promotion policies and employment opportunity. They reported challenges for getting jobs and expressed concerns about the future of librarians in UAE. With the exception of experience, findings of the study show no significant difference of demographic factors on job satisfaction, the perceived employment opportunity, and challenges. Majority of participants believe that employment opportunity for librarians can be improved through IT courses, promotion policies, training, career structure, marketing, and changing school name. They agree that reducing the number of students will not improve employment opportunities for librarians.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a descriptive study based on a survey questionnaire. Future studies may use qualitative methods such as the interview for more exploration and in-depth analysis.Practical implicationsThe findings provide concerns about the future of librarianship in UAE and appeal to library educators, managers, and decision makers to improve employment opportunities for librarians.Originality/valueThe paper reports original research findings on job satisfaction, employment opportunities, employment challenges, and future actions as perceived by academic librarians in UAE.

Modelling IT Career Choices Through Work Congruity, Self-Efficacy, and Personal Identity

Modelling IT Career Choices Through Work Congruity, Self-Efficacy, and Personal Identity

The effectiveness of social science research in addressing societal problems: Broadening participation in computing

One important rationale for federal funding of social science research is its role in addressing pressing social problems. In this article we examine the impact of the National Science Foundation’s Information Technology Workforce Program (ITWF) on broadening participation in computing and IT careers. Established in 2000 in response to the declining participation of women and minorities in computer science education and IT careers, the ITWF Program awarded almost US$30 million in research funding through its final solicitation in 2004. We document the quantitative and qualitative effects of this research funding, both to illustrate the complex ways in which R&D funding can advance scientific understanding and to identify the challenges that such problem-driven social science research may encounter. The problem of diversity in the IT workforce has not been solved. Nonetheless, the ITWF program had important effects on the understanding of this problem and efforts to address it.

DISCRIMINAÇÃO SALARIAL FEMININA E O PRÊMIO SALARIAL DE TI NA INDÚSTRIA DE TECNOLOGIA DA REGIÃO SUL

Este artigo fornece uma análise do perfil de salário, produtividade e gênero da força de trabalho nas indústrias de transformação e de informação e comunicação, nos polos tecnológicos da região sul brasileira. Aos dados da Relação Anual de Informações Sociais (RAIS), 2011, é aplicada uma metodologia baseada na economia da discriminação e método de decomposição de Oaxaca. Os resultados da análise econométrica sugerem que existe discriminação salarial feminina na indústria enfocada, nos três estados da região, sendo o Rio Grande do Sul o estado com maior desvantagem salarial feminina e o Paraná, com a menor desvantagem. Além disso, o recorte ocupacional, que separa os analistas de TI de um conjunto mais amplo de 726 ocupações, evidencia que a média salarial dos analistas de TI é maior do que a média das demais ocupações, indicando a vantagem salarial da carreira de analista de TI. Também é evidenciado que os empregos de analistas de TI constituem um território predominantemente masculino, uma vez que a participação feminina é de apenas 22%, na média da região sul. Porém, a vantagem salarial dos analistas de TI é maior para as mulheres do que para os homens, o que implica um menor grau de discriminação feminina para as analistas de TI. Esse resultado, encontrado nos três estados da região sul, se alinha à evidência reportada na literatura para os países da OCDE e é inédito em termos da literatura para a economia brasileira.

An Eight-year Study of the Influence of IT Career Camps on Altering Perceptions of IT Majors and Careers

An Eight-year Study of the Influence of IT Career Camps on Altering Perceptions of IT Majors and Careers

So, What is the Future of the IT Team

This has been the first time ITNOW has run a feature from a guest editor, writes Brian Runciman MBCS. The issues raised are interesting, not only from an employer’s perspective, but all those working in the IT industry. That’s 1.18 million people for whom these issues are personal - about you, your current career and your future career in IT. Why not get involved in the follow-up?

Can E-Portfolio Improve Students’ Readiness to Find an IT Career?

An E-Portfolio Assessment Management System (EAMS) can be an innovative tool that provides students with flexible opportunities to demonstrate the acquisition of skills and abilities in an outcome-based institution. The system has been developed and used for the past ten years to create, reflect, revise, and structure students’ work. It is a repository management system that facilitates collecting, sharing, and presenting artifacts of student learning outcomes via a digital medium. Therefore, it provides students with flexible opportunities to demonstrate the acquisition of skills and abilities to demonstrate growth of achieving learning outcomes. The rationale of the EAMS is to allow students to demonstrate competences and reflect upon experiences to improve their learning and career readiness; hence, they are accountable for their learning. The system was built around two defined set of learning outcomes: institutionally agreed upon set of learning outcomes, and learning objectives that are related to major requirements. The purpose of this study is to analyze students’ perceptions and attitudes when using an e-portfolio to support their employment opportunities. The participants were 217 students in the College of Technological Innovation. The students reported that the developing of e-portfolios was extremely helpful. The results showed that students have positive opinions about using e-portfolios as a beneficial tool to support their readiness for employment; they believe an e-portfolio increases their confidence to find a job in the IT field because it can allow them to showcase artifacts that demonstrate competencies and reflect upon experiences, and they can provide their supervisors during their industrial training with an e-resume that includes views of their actual work of what they have learned and are able to do when they complete their degree. Employers then can review e-portfolios to select prospective employees work readiness skills; hence, graduates are more likely to obtain a job in their workplaces. In conclusion, students do like the idea of e-portfolios when it is presented to them as a career showcase rather than a process for documenting learning. A career center can use e-portfolios as a tool to help students find a job. Furthermore, our analysis and evaluation uncovered learning issues involved in moving from the traditional approach of learning toward an integrated learning system that can be used after graduation.