Describing the IS Professional with a Structural Model.

This paper presents a dynamic structural model of the relative contribution and importance of education and skills required of new information systems (IS) professionals. Model development took account of technical skills found in most IS programs, other business oriented academic studies, and soft skills sought by employers in new graduates. The model also includes features of the working environment which influence the career progress of IS graduates. Acknowledging the importance of these four areas, the authors present a second order structural model that links these areas and compare the application of this model to IS students and decision makers who employ graduate our graduates. The model fits the data for the two groups and exhibits some unexpected outcomes in the area of soft skills with students indicate this is more important than do IS managers. The model allows, with some confidence, a quantitative interpretation of the relative importance of the respective variables from the perspectives of the student and employer stakeholder groups toward the education and professional development of IS professionals.