Information Technology Graduates Research Articles

Community of practice: converting IT graduate students into specialists via professional knowledge sharing

PurposeThe paper aims to highlight how an applied learning framework or “community of practice” (CoP) combined with a traditional theoretical course of study enables the identification of teaching-learning processes which facilitate knowledge transfer from practitioners to graduate information technology (IT) students for quicker integration in the labour market.Design/methodology/approachCoPs are identified based on cluster analysis according to Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (1984), with data obtained through a survey. Empirical research is applied to the CoP developed within a non-formal learning framework, principal new actors being IT specialists linked to graduate IT students and teachers on a traditional university course. Graduate IT students can gain knowledge of the ideal employee and the social and emotional skills needed to integrate with the IT labour market.FindingsThe K-Means algorithm helps to identify clusters of graduate IT students displaying necessary knowledge acceptance behaviour to convert them into specialists. The results of the cluster analysis show different learning styles of the labour force, providing an overview of candidate selection methods and the knowledge, skills and attitudes expected by users.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the research adds value to the existing literature on learning styles and the knowledge and core skills needed by IT specialists, it was limited to an emerging market.Originality/valueThe study provides a preliminary overview of graduate IT students’ attitudes from an emerging market to the re-engineering of academic learning contexts to facilitate professional knowledge transfer, converting them into IT practitioners and integrating them in the labour market of an emerging economy.

A Tracer Study on the Employability of Information Technology Graduates of Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College, Tagudin Campus

The purpose of the study was to examine the employability of the Information Technology graduates of Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College - Tagudin Campus in the Philippines. A survey questionnaire was administered to the graduates from the year 2012 to 2016 (n = 152). In general, about 53 percent of those who participated in the survey were employed while the rest were employed but stopped (26 percent) and never employed (21 percent). Although most of the graduates were employed, many of them are in jobs that are not related to their course. The main reasons identified for those who stopped from their work include end-of-contract, starting pay is too low, and plans to seek jobs abroad. The graduates' employment barriers include lack of work experience, professional eligibility, and intent to seek employment abroad. More than 50 percent recommended that the computer facilities used by the IT students should be upgraded to improve the employability of the IT graduates.

Identification of Factors Affecting the Employability of Information Technology Graduates

Graduate employability has been a typical subject among analysts, governments and advanced education frameworks around the globe uniquely in Sri Lanka but also in the world. In any case, while there is a ton of data and various models that advise on graduate employability, Specially what are the weak areas in the current education framework in universities (State and non state) the system change necessarily according to the industry requirements has been constrained exact research around there. Besides, most employability considers have been led in the Sri Lanka and different pieces of the world, In spite of Information Technology (IT) being one of the most looked for after capability by Sri Lankans, regardless it stays indistinct with respect to why numerous IT graduates battle to verify occupations after graduation.

A review on soft skills - an important key for employability in the "shift to a service driven economy" era

In recent times, the change from a manufacturing to a service economy has raised the importance of soft skills between graduates in general, and IT (Information Technology) in particular. Although market requires a decade ago were mostly centered on a candidate's specialist knowledge, there is now a greater emphasis on soft skills. Employers’ complaints about the dearth of soft skills among IT graduates prompted this study, which maps the true market soft-skills needs. A total of2000 IT classified adverts relating to IT experts were analyzed as part of the study. Human contact skills were found to be in high demand (41.2 percent of the soft skills ads), common (or general) skills were second (22.8 percent of the ads), task interaction was third (20.2 percent of the ads), and organizational skills were indeed the least sought (41.2 percent of the ads) (15.8%).

A Machine Learning Approach to Career Path Choice for Information Technology Graduates

Enterprises rely more and more on well-qualified and highly specialized IT professionals. Although the increasing availability of IT jobs is a good indicator for IT graduates, they nonetheless may find themselves confused about the most appropriate career for their future. In this paper, a recommendation system called CareerRec is proposed, which uses machine learning algorithms to help IT graduates select a career path based on their skills. CareerRec was trained and tested using a dataset of 2255 employees in the IT sector in Saudi Arabia. We conducted a performance comparison between five machine learning algorithms to assess their accuracy for predicting the best-suited career path among 3 classes. Our experiments demonstrate that the XGBoost algorithm outperforms other models and gives the highest accuracy (70.47%).

Importance of Generic Skills of ICT Graduates—Employers, Teaching Staff, and Students Perspective

Contribution: This study explores employers, university teaching staff, and student perceptions of the importance of the generic skills of information and communication technology (ICT) graduates. Background: The generic skills mastery of ICT graduates has been an important topic for many years and it still is nowadays, especially in the context of educating ICT professionals for unknown future jobs. A comprehensive view of the importance of the generic skills from the perspective of three main stakeholder groups, as presented in this study, provides a basis for educators globally to make further steps in the provision and assessment of the most important generic skills of ICT students within higher education curricula. Research Questions: This research addresses three simple, but important questions: 1) when hiring recent ICT graduates, how important are their broader employability skills (generic/soft/transferable skills) comparing to the specific professional, technical, or academic knowledge and skills that come with graduation? 2) which generic skills of ICT graduates are the most important? and 3) do ICT graduates possess the most important generic skills? Methodology: Research was conducted in Croatia, by using an online survey among 155 employers who employ ICT professionals, 208 students, and 49 teaching staff from two Croatian higher education institutions (HEIs). It was supported by the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Croatian Employers' Association, and Croatian Independent Software Exporters. Findings: Research results show that: 1) generic skills of ICT graduates are very important; 2) the three most important skills, as recognized by all three stakeholder groups are ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge; ability to apply knowledge in practical situations; and ability to identify and resolve problems; and 3) the perception of graduates' possession of generic skills varies among three stakeholders groups.

Student and Faculty Adviser Insights in an Agile Methodology Integrated Filipino Company-Sponsored I.T. Capstone Program

To improve the Information Technology (I.T.) graduate skill set, students need to be immersed in as realistic a software development environment as possible. In continuing our work on integrating Agile Methodology into the Capstone Program of our Bachelor of Science in I.T. (BSIT) degree program, this paper discusses the student challenges and difficulties during the software development project, and provides recommendations on improving the student overall learning process in such a program. We collected survey data from the whole population of 90 BSITstudents across four academic years about their experience with their client and the Capstone Program itself. Conceptual content analysis was then applied to discover and describe underlying themes. Also, faculty advisers were tasked with writing about their interactions, thoughts, and observations on their respective student group advisees. These showed issues with time management, communication, and competency. Also, groups that excelled exhibited better team coordination and a complete grasp of the Agile methodology. For future implementations, clearer task definition and reducing the skill gaps are necessary for better execution.

A Tracer Study of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology(BSIT) Graduates of Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology (NEUST), San Isidro Campus

It has been a practice of every higher educational institution to follow up on their graduates through tracer studies. This study generally aimed to trace the up–to–date status and employment of the BSIT graduates of Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, San Isidro Campus for the Academic Year 2016–2017 and Academic Year 2017–2018. The descriptive method of research was used with a modified questionnaire as the major data-gathering instrument. There were 249 total graduates but only 219 of them responded to the study which involved 122 males and 97 females. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, and ranking were used in this study. This study aimed to determine the general profile, educational background, professional examinations passed after college, employment profile, and reasons for unemployment of the unwaged respondents. Based on the tallied results, there is a high rate of employability with regular/permanent status among BSIT graduates. This means that the BSIT curriculum is aligned with the needs of the industry. The researchers have suggested an establishment of a partnership with the Civil Service Commission and other IT companies to assist the BSIT graduates in applying and passing eligibility for them to get the security of tenure and a higher salary.

Students’ Perception of the Effect of Cognitive Factors in Determining Success in Computer Programming: A Case Study

The reliance on science and technology by both countries and corporate entities is increasingly evident as the evolving trend of digitization not only pervades every facet of life but also assumes a dominant role. Correspondingly, the significance of producing competent computer science and information technology (IT) graduates becomes highly imperative. Already, in most developed and developing countries, there has been an increasing demand for these competencies such as network engineers, programmers, and other IT-related specialists. Although these competencies are equally valuable, programming skills constitute the core of the strength of every other IT-related competence. Nevertheless, programming is reported in the literature to be one of the most difficult courses to students. Moreover, the level of performance in programming is said to be significantly low with an attendant high rate of students’ dropout. There is a concerted research effort toward addressing the challenge of poor academic performance by attempting to answer the question of what factors affect academic performance in general. However, there is scanty literature on the factors that affect the ability to understand the concept of programming in specific. This paper, therefore, reports a case study investigation of students’ perception of the effect of cognitive factors as the determinant of success in computer programming. The findings showed that performance in introductory programming is impacted by a range of interrelated cognitive factors including self-efficacy and the love for technology.

‘We are not free here…’ – Palestinian IT students’ (im)mobile transition from university to employment or further education

ABSTRACTThe Palestinian information technology (IT) sector is growing. Meanwhile, an ongoing out-migration of IT professionals and graduates is taking place. Drawing on group, pair and individual interviews, as well as fieldwork observations, this paper investigates highly skilled IT students’ intentions to stay in or to leave the West Bank. In particular, it examines their transition from university to employment or further education, including professional opportunities and factors affecting migratory and stay decisions. This paper shows how physical, legal, bureaucratic, professional, educational, cultural and personal factors shape professional plans and career trajectories. Particular attention is paid to the Israeli occupation and gender expectations. The students’ mobility is facilitated by completed degrees and diplomas, acquired skills and scholarships, all of which are potential tools to overcome restrictions. However, this study reveals a clash between aspirations and reality, which often results in limited freedoms. We argue that a student’s relative (un)freedom contributes to (im)mobile transitions from university to employment or further education, where migration could be a way to obtain freedoms or to escape the lack thereof.

A Study on the Gender Digital Divide: Overcoming the Under-Representation of South African Women in the IT Sector

In South Africa, women are grossly underrepresented in the Information Technology (IT) sector result of gender stereotyping and discrimination. According to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) Report (2017), only 21% of executives in the IT sector are women. This has caused high unemployment of women IT graduates. The purpose of this study therefore is to explore and investigate the antecedents that influence and impact the phenomenon of the gender digital divide in South Africa. The study explores new antecedents of the digital gender divide that influences motivation of women to participate in the IT sector. This study used a qualitative approach through in-depth interviews of South African women in the IT sector. The rich volume of data collected was analysed via a thematic analysis. The analysis confirmed existing antecedents gleaned from literature and also uncovered three new dimensions, namely, networking, impartial mentorship and HR as motivators for women in the IT sector. The findings of the study also provides for a better understanding on the barriers that perpetuate the unequal gender gap problem especially in managerial and leadership roles.

Exploring Gender Diversity in IT and CS Departments Within 3 Private Universities in Erbil City

The number of information technology (IT) jobs is increasing dramatically in Iraq. This has produced an increased need for IT graduates than before. On the other hand, most IT and computer science (CS) departments in private universities are seeing small numbers of females in their courses. This indicates that these private universities have failed in attracting a sufficient percentage of female students. In this article, we explore the gender gap in IT and CS departments at 3 private universities: Tishk, Cihan, and Bayan, using 3 data sets related to the 2017 to 2018 academic year. The research design is descriptive and primary data were collected using personal observations made by the authors over the past 2 years. By analyzing these data sets, we can discover important issues such as students’ diversity in computing departments. For example, we find that a gender gap does not clearly exist in the IT department of Tishk University, while it’s more obvious in CS departments of Bayan and Cihan Universities. This finding implies that there is a need for some initiatives to attract women to IT and CS departments and to more investigate the gender gap in computing within the higher education level. These findings may also be relevant to the computing programs at other large public universities.

The Academic, Social, and Professional Integration Profiles of Information Technology Students

Low retention rates in higher education Information Technology (IT) studies have led to an unmet demand for IT specialists. Therefore, universities need to apply interventions to increase retention rates and provide the labor market with more IT graduates. However, students with different characteristics may need different types of interventions. The current study applies a person-oriented approach and identifies the profiles of first-year IT students in order to design group-specific support. Tinto's [13, 14] integration model was used as a framework to analyze questionnaire data from 509 first-year IT students in Estonia. The students’ response profiles were distinguished through latent profile analysis, and the students were divided into four profiles based on their responses to questions about academic integration, professional integration, and graduation-related self-efficacy. The difference in academic integration was smaller among the profiles than the difference in professional integration. Knowing these profiles helps universities to design interventions for each student group and apply the interventions to increase the number of IT graduates.

Predicting Employability Skills among Information Technology Graduates of Philippine State University in their On-the-Job Training using J48 Algorithm

Objectives: This study predicts the employability skills acquired by the BS Information Technology graduates of Leyte Normal University, Tacloban City. Work skills or employability skills were identified based on the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order 53, series of 2006, which categorizes as personal, interpersonal, and technical understanding skills. Methods: Using data mining to predict employability skills of the graduates particularly on the J48 algorithm a C4.5 decision tree model. The 10-Folds Cross-validation and Receiving Operating Characteristics Curve (ROC) was deployed to create a model and test the result based on the attributes. The collected datasets of this study are from the graduates from S.Y. 2015-2016 to 2017-2018. There are 138 datasets with six variables (Systems Development, Research, Business Operations, Technical Support, Interpersonal Skills, and Remarks). Findings: Decision tree model and decision rule for classification were created. There were 85.50% correctly classified with an AUC weighted mean of 85.10%. Hence, classified students who possess Expert (82.8%), Advanced (95%), and Intermediate (57.10%) OJT performance. The model has high acceptability to predict that Business Operations is the most important attribute in the On-the-Job Training. Wherein, students are trained to be productive, responsible and cooperative and have the initiative to act. Application/Improvements: The result of this study can be a basis for policy measures for effective OJT program. Further, for more improvement of this paper and model, additional parameters should be considered to have more factors involved in predicting employability skills. Keywords: Decision Tree, Employability Skills, Machine Learning, On-the-Job Training, J48 Algorithm, BSIT, LNU

An Analysis Study of the Feasibility on Offering Bachelor’s Degree in Service Science

The service sector is the uppermost growing stake of the developed economies. The reliance of this sector on information technology (IT) deserves revision of IT curricula. As the field of computing continues to grow and diversify, and new computing-related disciplines emerge, existing curriculum programs must be updated regularly and new computing disciplines will be drafted. The primary aims of this paper, therefore, are firstly, to introduce the emerging academic discipline known as Service Science, Management, and Engineering (SSME), in response to the growing dominance of the service sector in emerging economies. Secondly, we present a feasibility study of establishing a new undergraduate academic program that offers a Bachelor’s degree in SSME. The study was based on analyzing the results of a study conducted to evaluate the workforce in Jordanian information and communications industry. The results of the study concluded that the demand for hybrid IT graduates in the knowledge-based service economy is rapidly growing.

Employer Feedback on B.S. Information Technology Graduates of Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT U) Miagao Campus

This study aimed to acquire employer feedback on B.S. Information Technology graduates of ISAT U Miagao Campus. This descriptive study used the survey questionnaires to gather data from the 54 employers and Mean was used to determine the average of the numerical data set. Results showed that 30% of the company where the graduates employed were BPO, Trade/Retailing (11%), Academe (11%), Manufacturing and Financial (7%), Bank and Telecommunication (6%), Public Office and Hotel (4%), Pawnshop, Religious, Law Office, Travel Agency, Engineering, Manpower Services, and LGU (2%). On the Frequency of Supervision, on Daily basis (39%), Weekly (22%), Annually (20%), and Monthly (19%). With a composite mean of (4.22), the employers were extremely satisfied with the graduates’ knowledge and understanding of the Job. With an overall mean of (4.20), the employers were very satisfied with the general qualities of the graduates. With an overall mean of (4.04), the employers were very satisfied with the general skills of the graduates. With an overall mean of (4.20), the employers were very satisfied with the attributes of graduates. The employers suggested to put emphasis on the written and oral communication skills, and improve the self-discipline of the students. Keywords : Information Technology, Employer Feedback, Graduates’ Employability,

Stakeholders Perspective on Communicative Competence in Industry 4.0: Walk the Talk of Informative Technologists

In facing the challenges of era 4.0, graduates are undoubtedly faced with language and communicative competency struggle to ensure that there is ease of transition from that of the academia to the workplace. This transition would entail innovative insight in language learning to equip graduates with apt technical and non-technical competencies for purposes of employability and work readiness. Graduates will need to familiarize themselves with the professional environment and be familiar with the language of the community of practice. To be considered a legitimate member of a community, the situated learning theory postulates that continued participation and engagement over a period of time with a community, provides one the ability to be considered as member of a community. For this purpose, a mixed method research was conducted in a private university to obtain the views of graduates and employers involved in student internship programs at an Information Technology (IT) company. Respondents were required to provide their feedback on communicative competence expected of interns for employability and work readiness. The study aims to share the communicative competencies and struggles as well as pedagogical implications expected of IT graduates in Industry 4.0. to be deemed employable and work ready.

Industry and faculty surveys call for increased collaboration to prepare information technology graduates

Academic and industry collaborations can help improve computing curricula and student learning experiences. Such collaborations are formally encouraged by accreditation standards. Through the auspi...

Literature review on “Industry Needs for Information Technology competence, Information Technology competence/skill program study and certification of Information Technology competence”

Information Technology as a new Technology has been used in businesses from small company until multinational company in almost all industries. IT role as an enabler and differentiation factor separating success company from average company. IT need people to build, operate, maintain and support the systems, hence expect the new hire to immediately contribute from the first day they join the company. The industry define the needs for Information Technology competence and expect Education Institution as one of IT resource work hard to design their program study to fulfill the needs for Information Technology graduates, yet the industry still struggle to succeed in hiring fresh graduate to fill the IT position. Information Technology Training Institution can be an alternative to improve the education result. Also certification on Information Technology competence from third party or independent body might be used as a standard for both Industry and Education. This paper will report literature review several previous paper about all of the above.

Enhancing the employability of IT graduates in Vietnam

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the key determinants of employability of information technology (IT) graduates in Vietnam and examines their impact on self-perceived employability and the duration of the job search. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on data collected from the responses to an online survey from more than 500 IT graduates from different higher education institutions in Vietnam. Employability, its outcome and its key determinants were integrated into one model. Exploratory factor, confirmatory factor and path analyses were conducted to test the model by means of structural equation modeling. Findings – The self-perceived employability of IT graduates in Vietnam was determined by graduates’ English language skills, soft skills, adaptability skills, the quality of the institution’s IT program and job seeking efforts. Results also indicated that work experience, professional competencies and employability made the job search duration shorter, but job seeking efforts made job search duration longer. Research limitations/implications – Only determinants from individual and institutional aspects were considered, and the sample was also limited to one profession in one country. Practical implications – Results can inform students and educators about the improvable areas of employability enhancement. Originality/value – This study fills a gap in the employability research by providing a quantitative explanation about relationships among the employability, the job search duration and their key predictors from different aspects.