Does Professionalism Matter in the IT Workforce? An Empirical Examination of IT Professionals

This paper investigates the role of professionalism in the information technology (IT) workforce. We develop a model that describes how professionalism relates to attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors among IT professionals. Specifically, we hypothesize that dimensions of professionalism influence attitudes (including intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment), perceived job alternatives, job performance, and turnover. We test the research model with data, which includes supervisor evaluations and actual turnover data drawn from 214 IT professionals. Results show that some dimensions of professionalism demonstrate a positive relationship with intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, and job performance. Other dimensions have no effect or positively influence awareness of job alternatives, driving turnover intention. As the IT workforce grows increasingly professional, managers may benefit from more satisfied, harder-working IT personnel at the cost of having a workforce more connected to the labor market.