The construction of valued skills and expertise within the IT profession: continuing tensions between techies and managers

The research investigates the expertise, skills and attributes of computer specialists. In particular, it focuses on managers' construction of certain attributes of computer professionals as valuable. In other words it asks "what makes a computer professional valuable?" Although this is of interest in itself, it is also a vehicle for investigating the computing occupation more widely. As the research deals with meaning and sense-making, context is all important. Consequently, the context within which the computing occupation and the skills within it are situated are a major theme throughout. This study consists of semi-structured interviews with IT managers and some user and personnel managers. The analysis of the interview data revealed two different organisational types: IT companies and IT departments. The managers within computer departments and companies constructed value differently and as career and employment environments these organisations appeared to offer different opportunities. [Continues.]