Development of IT/IS Skills for New Forms of Organisations

This paper considers the industry’s IT/IS skill requirements in relation to the notion of new forms of organisations such as learning organisations and virtual organisations. The challenge facing IT education is to create a learning environment that helps developing skills (eg double loop learning and an ability to handle complex and unstructured problem situations) required by organisations, which are dynamic and in a continuous state of change. The paper reviews the data from an ongoing empirical study among university IT students male and female, which aimed at exploring the reasons for low female participation in IT studies. Of particular interest is how students’ views of IT as an area of study and as a career are being affected by the IT study environment, and the implications of this for learning and virtual organisations. Examples of students’ experiences have been drawn upon to highlight the complexities involved for students in negotiating the dynamics of the learning environment of an Australian based IT degree.