Date of Conferral

2015

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Information Systems and Technology

Advisor

Steve Roussas

Abstract

On average, African Americans receive lower wages in the workplace due to lack of advanced technical skills. The reason for technical deficiency among some African Americans is often lack of exposure to IT resources at an early age. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to identify and explore the factors that contribute to lack of IT resources available to some African Americans to cultivate IT skills. Information literacy theory formed the conceptual framework, which focused on information resources that African American and Caucasians use in the workforce for problem solving and retrieving information. Data were collected by conducting face-to-face and phone interviews using open-ended questions with 20 randomly selected African Americans employed in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, and Maryland. Data saturation was reached after interviewing the 20 participants. Data were analyzed for emergent themes, revealing that (a) more computer use yielded higher academic achievement, (b) users with higher income had more access to IT resources, and (c) users who had more technical knowledge received higher wages. The findings of the study may contribute to positive social change by exposing members of the African American community as well as other communities to the importance of advanced computer skills, which are needed to succeed in careers and to compete effectively in the workplace.

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