Trends In IT Human Resources And Its Impact On Curriculum Design

In light of rapid changes in technology and business, institutions of higher education face the difficult task of adapting their curriculum to be general enough to cover all the core concepts of the discipline while being specific enough to prepare students with the knowledge and skills needed by businesses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts that the demand for IT professionals in the United States will continue to increase but the demand will not be evenly distributed across all areas. The BLS breaks future demand into job categories but it does not explore the meta-trends that will drive future job growth and is thus of limited value for curriculum development purposes. This paper reviews existing literature and develops a conceptual framework of the meta-trends driving job growth. This framework is intended to be used as a guide by Information Technology curriculum committees to aid in establishing a curriculum that meets the needs of key stakeholders while avoiding the trap of chasing the latest fads.