Increasing the number of entrants into the IT profession: the role of experiential training

ABSTRACT

This study addresses calls by IT academics and IT practitioners to uncover career interventions that could increase the number of entrants into the IT workforce. In response, this study examines the role experiential training plays in students' choice of IT as a career. Applying research on career interventions to a nationally representative sample of individuals, I find that experiential IT training facilitates IT students make the transition from school into the IT profession. This finding has important implications for research on career interventions, for IT education and for the IT profession

References

1. Ahuja, M., Ogan, C., Herring, S., and Robinson, J. "Gender and Career Choice Determinants in Information Systems Professionals: A Comparison with Computer Science," in: Human Resource Management of IT Professionals, F. Niederman and T. A. Ferratt (eds.), Information Age Publishing, Greenwich, CT., 2006, pp. 279--304.
2. Brown, S. D., Ryan Krane, N. E., Brecheisen, J., Castelino, P., Budisin, I., Miller, M., and Edens, L. "Critical Ingredients of Career Choice Interventions: More Analyses and New Hypotheses," Journal of Vocational Behavior (62:3) 2003, pp 411--428.
3. Compeau, D., Higgins, C. A., and Huff, S. "Social Cognitive Theory and Individual Reactions to Computing Technology: A Longitudinal Study," MIS Quarterly (23:2), 1999, pp 145--158
4. Ellis, R., and Lowell, B. L. "IT Workforce Data Project Report Ii: The Production of U.S. Degrees in the Information Technology Disciplines," National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA., 1999.
5. Gallivan, M. J., Truex III, D. P., and Kvasny, L. "Changing Skills Patterns in IT Skills Sets 1988-2003: A Content Analysis of Classified Advertising," The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems (35:3) 2004, pp 64--87.
6. Gianakos, I. "Patterns of Career Choice and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy," Journal of Vocational Behavior (54:2), 1999, pp 244--258
7. Gorgonem, J. T., Davis, G. B., Valacich, J. S., Topi, H., Feinstein, D. L., and Longenecker, H. E. "Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Systems," Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Association for Information Systems (AIS), Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP), 2007.
8. Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., Talleyrand, R., McPartland, E. B., Davis, T., Chopra, S. B., Alexander, M. S., Suthakaran, V., and Chai, C. M. "Career Choice Barriers, Supports, and Coping Strategies: College Students' Experiences," Journal of Vocational Behavior (60:1), 2002, pp 61--72
9. Lent, R. W., Singley, D., Sheu, H. B., Schmidt, J. A., and Schmidt, L. C. "Relation of Social-Cognitive Factors to Academic Satisfaction in Engineering Students," Journal of Career Assessment (15:1), 2007, pp 87--97.
10. National Science Board "Science and Engineering Indicators 2006," National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA., 2006.
11. Tesluk, P. E., and Jacobs, R. R. "Toward an Integrated Model of Work Experience," Personnel Psychology (51:2) 1998, pp 321--355.

Index Terms

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Computing profession

      • Computing occupations