IDENTIFYING COMPETENCIES FOR THE IT WORKFORCE: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

As a historical study of professions would reveal, there is a strong relationship between any profession and the university complex. This is especially true with the rapid growth of the information technology (IT) profession and the academic programs in computing offered by colleges and universities. The dynamic growth of the IT profession provides an ongoing undertaking for IT educators who are responsible for preparing both entry-level and experienced IT professionals for the workforce. This paper reports survey results of IT professionals' perceptions of what are the needed IT competencies for both entry level and established IT professionals. Specific IT competencies are derived through questionnaire responses. The tabulated results identify those competencies considered either critical, useable, or of no importance to the curricular offerings in IT related programs in higher education.