Understanding the experiences of youth in collaborative technical workplaces

Abstract

In many communities, a limited number of job opportunities exist which allow youth to practice valuable technical and collaborative skills necessary for future employment in competitive and high-paying fields. While prior research has examined youths’ technology use in various settings such as home or school, my dissertation research seeks to understand how youth use technology to collaborate at work. The goal of this work is to understand the challenges faced by youth as they transition into technical workplaces and to investigate how we can better prepare them for collaborative work through technological and interpersonal interventions.