IS Leadership and the IT Profession (SIG LEAD)
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Paper Type
Complete
Paper Number
1107
Description
Based on a four-month ethnography in a research unit of an Indian Information Technology (IT) services organization, we explore mobility prospects of engineers in emerging technology work-roles. Indian IT sector in its traditional software and business process services avatar not only aligned with skills expected from IT-related engineering streams such as IT and Computer Science, but also contributed to mobility of engineers irrespective of their prior engineering streams, moulding them into ‘generic programmers’. In this study, we explore if the prospects for mobility are any different in this sector as it transitions into providing emerging technology solutions. We illustrate some of the mobility constraints that engineers from non-IT specializations face while accessing emerging technology work-roles, and discuss these findings through a critical realist lens. Our findings depict the importance of IT vs non-IT backgrounds as an important divide for the Indian IT sector as it segues into emerging technologies.
Recommended Citation
Venumuddala, Vinay and Kamath, Rajalaxmi, "Indian Information Technology (IT) Engineers transitioning to work roles in emerging technologies: Findings from an ethnographic study" (2021). AMCIS 2021 Proceedings. 2.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2021/is_leadership/sig_lead/2
Indian Information Technology (IT) Engineers transitioning to work roles in emerging technologies: Findings from an ethnographic study
Based on a four-month ethnography in a research unit of an Indian Information Technology (IT) services organization, we explore mobility prospects of engineers in emerging technology work-roles. Indian IT sector in its traditional software and business process services avatar not only aligned with skills expected from IT-related engineering streams such as IT and Computer Science, but also contributed to mobility of engineers irrespective of their prior engineering streams, moulding them into ‘generic programmers’. In this study, we explore if the prospects for mobility are any different in this sector as it transitions into providing emerging technology solutions. We illustrate some of the mobility constraints that engineers from non-IT specializations face while accessing emerging technology work-roles, and discuss these findings through a critical realist lens. Our findings depict the importance of IT vs non-IT backgrounds as an important divide for the Indian IT sector as it segues into emerging technologies.
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