Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Earl Thomas

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, I investigated how information technology (IT) professionals learn/acquire soft skills. Little is understood about how IT professionals describe and apply the soft skills that they consider necessary for their own employability. Exploring how IT professionals describe and apply soft skills is important to their future work and career advancement. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to better understand how IT professionals learn/acquire soft skills. Bandura’s 1986, social learning theory served as the organizational conceptual framework of this study and guided the research question, which asked how IT professionals acquire learn/acquire soft skills. This research question addressed the major focus of this study. Participants for this basic qualitative study consisted of 20 IT professionals who possessed three or more years of work experience. An interview protocol with semi-structured interview questions was developed and administered to collect data that addressed the major research question. The interview data from the IT professionals were analyzed using inductive analysis resulting in two themes. The first was the foundation of soft skills is shaped by family and the community. The second theme was skill requirements not listed in the job description. Based on the findings a policy recommendation paper was written. The outcome of this study contributes to positive social change because the findings can be used to help with mapping IT workers’ learning paths for acquiring soft skills.

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