Creating Employer-Driven Information Technology Skill Standards, the Process, and the Results

Abstract The "IT Skill Standards 2020 and Beyond" National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (ATE) project has created a set of future-facing, employer-led and verified Information Technology (IT) skill standards for six of the most critical contemporary IT job clusters. The job clusters of focus were identified by roughly 100 IT Thought Leaders (mostly CTOs, CIOs, and futurists responsible for keeping their companies in business), and over 250 employers have participated to create the standards. Per a re-convening of Thought Leaders, the project is shifting to developing sets of skills (at a level that is more than awareness but less than a full skill standard) that can be layered onto all or almost all technical jobs. The project is in the process of developing the layering skill set for cybersecurity and will also focus on a range of skill sets from Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in the near future. The project will compare and contrast at least one skill set with the full skill standards. It has been over 17 years since comprehensive national IT skill standards were updated (Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies, 2003). Because of the fast-changing nature of IT careers, the 2003 standards are no longer useful to employers, educators, or potential IT workers. New skill standards were sorely needed. Educators use skill standards to create relevant, aligned curriculum to prepare students for the workforce. Employers use skill standards to improve communications about job openings to hire the most qualified candidates. Students and graduates use skill standards to better understand the realities of the IT job market. The job clusters of focus for these skill standards were/are Infrastructure Management and Engineering, Technical Support, Technical Project Management, Data Analytics and Predictive Modeling, Data Management and Engineering, and Software Development. Each Skill Standard package includes a prioritized future-facing list of Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Tasks employers want future graduates to know or be able to do; Key Performance Indicators for the prioritized Tasks; Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for each of the KSAs, as well as levels of Employability skills employers desire for each job cluster. The six Skill Standards are posted at http://itskillstandards.org. Notably, the Texas Skill Standards System (TSSS) has recognized the first five sets of skill standards and is distributing them across the state. The sixth job cluster will be considered by TSSS in December, 2021, and is expected to be recognized as well. Moreover, the project is reaching out to other states for similar adoptions and recognition while at the same time holding introductory training sessions for educators to help them to apply the skill standard SLOs. In addition to the actual skill standards artifacts, the project is sharing the process used to energize employer leadership. This process identified the future-facing skill standards as well as inspired a modified process now in use for developing the skill sets that can be layered onto other technical fields. The "IT Skill Standards 2020 and Beyond" ATE project continues to build on a successful business engagement model developed by a National Science Foundation-funded National Convergence Technology Center of Excellence that covers Infrastructure and Communications. This model – known as the "BILT" (Business and Industry Leadership Team) – puts business and industry leaders in a co-leadership role that allows them to make continuous recommendations on program curriculum to ensure it aligns with workforce needs. The goal is to teach students the skills they need to know to get hired. The National Convergence Technology ATE Center of Excellence's BILT – which includes IT experts from national companies from across the US – convenes quarterly to discuss emerging industry trends and provide program guidance. Each May, the BILT uses an electronic voting system to rank and update a list of IT knowledge areas that entry-level IT workers need to know prior to discussing the rankings synchronously. The updated list is shared with 85+ colleges around the country that are members of the national ATE center of excellence's community of practice. Those schools use the updated list with their local BILTs to keep curriculum aligned with workforce needs in their areas. Important elements of the "IT Skill Standards 2020 and Beyond" ATE project include the processes used for developing both skill standards and skill sets as well as a pilot for closed crowd-sourcing approach to keep the standards current far beyond their publication.