Start Date

11-12-2016 12:00 AM

Description

The IT labor market's increased appetite for IT workers who hold no formal IT education has raised concerns regarding the value of formal IT education. On that account, this study draws on human capital theory and examines whether formal IT education commands a premium over non-IT education in early IT careers. Using data from the U.S. NLSY97 cohort, we examine the wage value of formal IT education by employing a hierarchical linear modeling technique. We find that early career IT professionals (i.e. IT majors) who hold formal IT education receive higher wages than early career IT professionals who hold non-IT education. In addition, we find that IT experience complements formal IT education in determining wages of early career IT professionals. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice.

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Dec 11th, 12:00 AM

On the Value of Formal IT Education in Early IT Careers: A Multilevel Analysis.

The IT labor market's increased appetite for IT workers who hold no formal IT education has raised concerns regarding the value of formal IT education. On that account, this study draws on human capital theory and examines whether formal IT education commands a premium over non-IT education in early IT careers. Using data from the U.S. NLSY97 cohort, we examine the wage value of formal IT education by employing a hierarchical linear modeling technique. We find that early career IT professionals (i.e. IT majors) who hold formal IT education receive higher wages than early career IT professionals who hold non-IT education. In addition, we find that IT experience complements formal IT education in determining wages of early career IT professionals. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice.