Recruiting diverse, high-skilled IT employees through existing virtual social networks

ABSTRACT

There is an Information Technology (IT) skills gap in the United States. To address this unmet need, organizations are fervently looking for ways to create a sustainable IT professional assembly line of educated and highly skilled workers with strong social networks and exceptional team-based organizational skills. While the IT workforce field has been heavily researched, the majority of this investigation gives little to no discussion to the role under-represented groups of virtual social networks will play in addressing this concern in our knowledge economy. This paper explores how existing social networks of minority Greek-letter organizations possess high IT soft skills to meet this need. It concludes by highlighting key implications for the IT workforce today and in the years to come.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.0 GENERAL

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
          Subjects: Staffing
  K.7 THE COMPUTING PROFESSION
      K.7.1 Occupations

General Terms:
Human Factors, Management

Keywords:
Greek-letter organizations, IT professional skills gap, IT workforce, under-represented groups, virtual social networks