Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter XIII
Education for a
Technology-Based
Profession:
Softening the Information
Systems Curriculum
Rodney Turner
Victoria University of Technology, Australia
Glenn Lowry
United Arab Emirates University, UAE
ABSTRACT
This chapter reports some further findings of an ongoing investigation into conceptual,
academic, and “soft” skills that IS/IT practitioners regard as important in new graduates.
There has long been agreement that the IS curriculum should be comprised of some
combination of technical subjects and nontechnical business subjects, and that graduates
also need “soft” business skills. There is far less agreement about what the mix between
these should be and how best to prepare students in some areas, notably in the development
of “soft” business skills. The research findings reported here present some evidence that
traditional “business subjects” such as marketing, economics, or finance do not equate to
the business skills that employers of IS graduates are seeking in new hires. The chapter
concludes with a discussion of IS curriculum reform issues and strategies for reducing
confusion, overcoming tradition and inertia, finding resources, and neutralizing vested
interests
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