Informing the career development of IT students by understanding their career aspirations and skill development action plans

Abstract

Attending university can assist students to make informed and realistic choices regarding their career. However, career development is a complex process and there are discipline-specific aspects to consider. In Information Technology, no clear career developmental pathway is evident in the literature despite recent efforts by employers, educators, and professional societies to help students improve their career expectations and employability upon graduation. This study aims to understand better the career aspirations and expectations of tertiary Information Technology students, so that their beliefs and needs can be taken into consideration when supporting them in career development. This study uses both qualitative and quantitative analyses to explore the career aspirations of 306 students. The results demonstrated variability in students’ short-term aspirations and a lack of understanding regarding effective actions to achieve their career goals, highlighting issues with setting realistic expectations. Outcomes show that undergraduate Information Technology students may require assistance with negotiating career choice.

How careers advice and guidance can facilitate career development in technical, vocational education, and training graduates: The case in Nigeria

“…CAGC activities include career information provision, assessment and self-assessment tools, counselling interviews, and career education programs, "taster" programs that allow job-seekers to sample options, job search, and transition services. Due to the importance of CAGC for graduate employability, there have been several studies that examined the relationships between career education and graduate career aspirations and choices in multiple contexts (e.g., Bimrose & Hearne, 2012;McKenzie, Coldwell-Neilson & Palmer, 2017;Reddya & Rajaram, 2015). Solem, Kollasch, and Lee (2013) found that there were many organizational and businessoriented skills that employers value, but these were not commonly taught in graduate curricula in the USA HEI system.…”

“…Due to the importance of CAGC for graduate employability, there have been several studies that examined the relationships between career education and graduate career aspirations and choices in multiple contexts (e.g. Bimrose & Hearne, 2012; McKenzie et al., 2017; Reddya & Rajaram, 2015).…”

“…(2013) found that there were many organizational and business-oriented skills that employers value, but these were not commonly taught in graduate curricula in the USA HEI system. McKenzie et al. (2017) study on “understanding the career aspirations and skill development action plans of Information Technology students in Australian HE(I)” found variability in students’ short-term aspirations and a lack of understanding regarding effective actions to achieve their career goals, highlighting issues with setting realistic expectations.…”

Encouraging students to draw on work experiences when articulating achievements and capabilities to enhance employability

“…Curriculum-integrated CDL is widely acknowledged as enhancing student work-readiness (McKenzie, Coldwell-Neilson, & Palmer, 2017). An increasingly popular pathway is work-integrated learning (WIL; Harvey et al., 2017; Smith, Ferns, & Russell, 2014) where students formally engage in, and are assessed on, collaborative learning activities with industry and community partners.…”

Embedding Employability into an Information Technology Curriculum Using PebblePad: A Practice Report

“…The need to support tertiary ICT students with respect to career planning was explored in depth by McKenzie, Coldwell-Neilson and Palmer (2017). The results of their study affirms that many ICT students will need guidance to develop specific short-term actions that will support their long-term career goals.…”