What our research is all about... With support from the National Science Foundation (CNS-0420434), our research examines some of the social forces that may lead to the under-representation of women and minorities in the IT field. Our focus is on experiences that college students have during internships, co-ops, externships, and so forth - what some people term "paraprofessional experiences." We center our inquiry on the occupational culture of information technology, based on preliminary data suggested that occupational culture has a powerful influence on the beliefs and actions of newcomers to a field.   Occupational culture is one among several social influences that effects the education, adjustment, and retention of employees in all occupations. Our research catalogs and analyzes the positive and negative cultural aspects of the information technology occupations in hopes of identifying which characteristics affect occupational commitment and persistence. We are attempting to find out what are the features of IT occupational subculture that may keep people away from this field. In 2001 and 2002, we conducted an initial research on cultural traits of the information technology field by interviewing IT professionals and end-users. Next Page Back to ITWF Home
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