The meaning of IT work

Abstract

Research has consistently highlighted the importance of meaning of work. Yet, the meaning of IT work remains unexamined in the IT literature. This study fills this gap by reporting on a study that aims to identify themes describing the meaning of IT work. This study adopts a qualitative grounded approach to identify a set of fifteen (15) themes that represent three types of meanings of work, i.e. Self, Others and Context. A large-scale field study was conducted to validate the meanings of IT work. The results of the field study indicate that the 15 themes identified have face validity. Self-related themes were selected more by IT professionals as describing the meaning of IT work compared to Others or Context. The top four themes describing the meaning of IT work concerned the opportunity to learn and develop oneself; deriving a sense of achievement from work; leveraging knowledge and skills; and creating something of value through work that impacts the company and its clients. We conclude this study with implications for research and the practice of IT.