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Journal of Information Systems Education

Abstract

Information systems (IS) curriculums have been the subject of debate and discussion, as to their proper planning, design, and implementation. Despite all of the work which has been done in this area to date, there are still arguments whether skills gaps exist between what is being taught in IS curriculums, and what is really needed in the industry. This study examines IS/IT skills gaps from three perspectives: end-users, academia, and IS/IT employers. The goal is to see whether skills gaps exist, and to make specific recommendations in order to alleviate these skills gaps. A survey was administered in the northeastern U.S. to investigate the perceived importance of IS courses, information technologies, and critical IS/IT issues. The survey was analyzed and the results were compared with IS course offerings by AACSB-accredited business schools in the northeastern U.S. and IT staffing surveys and reports. One interesting finding is that project management is a subject area which is not being adequately covered in IS program curriculums, however is considered a highly important skill area by both IS and nonIS industry professionals. In terms of technologies, the most basic and widely used technologies (personal productivity and desktop operating systems) were given high importance. Results related to IS/IT issues showed that security is an issue which should be given greater emphasis in any consideration of IS curriculums. ERP, end-user computing, and the integration of soft skills have also been indicated as being important technologies, skills, and issues based on our findings.

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