The Skills Gap as Observed between IS Graduates and the Systems Development Industry: A South African Experience

Abstract

This paper discusses the results of an investigation into the skills gap between Information Systems (IS) graduates at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African Systems Development Industry. Three objectives were defined for this study. Firstly to measure the alignment between the level of skills possessed by students and the level of skills demanded by development companies. Secondly to identify and compare the most prominent specific skills that industry requires with the skills of students and thirdly to determine whether the students obtained the skills directly through UCT. The study revealed that there was alignment between the importance rating of companies and the skills of students in some areas, but not in others. Although correlation exists between the specific skills and technologies that industry requires and those which students possess, knowledge of certain technologies is lacking from the formal IS curriculum.