Abstract:

The digitalization of work is a top priority among employers, education providers and policymakers, as it presents a great opportunity for the development of regions, improving competitiveness and creating new demands and opportunities for job creation. However, it creates new demands for technological literacy and for the qualification of young professionals. The sustainability of the promised digitally-enabled development depends of the ability to create opportunities to integrate people and leverage their talent in rewarding and meaningful careers and work-life contexts. For education institutions the concerns with addressing the need for new technology, literacy is driving the debate for changes in the models for the qualification of young professionals.

In such settings, information technology (IT) professionals rank as one of the fastest-growing professions. However, many regions face challenges to qualify and retain enough IT talent, notably in medium-density urban areas, where small and medium-sized companies dominate the business landscape. It is therefore important to understand what affects the attractiveness of IT studies, and the related professions for young students, notably when choosing a direction for their higher education studies.

This paper presents and discusses the results from an exploratory study addressing the perceptions of families and of young students about the characteristics of IT professions. The study sets up to investigate how the influence of family members and close relatives, the experience of the youngsters, the breadth of the job market and the area of knowledge underpin the motivations and the decision-making process of young students when they assess and define their choices for their future. The study resorted to a questionnaire and offers information about the attitudes towards IT careers, and brings forward key insights for debating what might affect the attractiveness of higher education in IT. The identification of these factors may inform the development to education opportunities to meet the demand of skilled young professionals that digitization requires.

Keywords:

Digitalization, IT careers, student motivations, career choice.