Observations regarding the history of the study of computer personnel

Abstract

The goal of this study is contrast the original concerns regarding computer/information systems personnel from the early days of computing with emergent concerns reflecting the accumulation of evolution of both computing technology and IS management in the subsequent years. Our approach to this is to review the proceedings of the Computer Personnel Research group, by analyzing the very first proceedings (1962), analyzing the first five proceedings (1964 to 1969), and the last five proceedings (2006 to 2011). Our intention is to present a broad picture of trends and we use observations of particular studies to this end. For this study we selected three perspectives that highlight changes from the earliest days to the present. The first is based on a close reading and consideration of the first "conference" in 1962 and the discussion it generated. The second considers the themes and topics of articles in the first five conferences running from 1964 to 1969. Finally we identify and comment on the array of themes and topics that the CPR conferences have addressed in the most recent five years.