Relevant IT skills for BSc Business Administration students at FHNW

Abstract

This study examines if there are skill gaps between what are taught as IT skills and what IT skills are required by Swiss industry. Both are considered from the perspective of a single university program: BSc in Business Administration (BSc BA), taught at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW).79.2% of former BSc BA FHNW students who participated in a survey for this thesis reported having missing IT skills for their current workplace positions. 68.9% of them recommend increasing the FHNW IT skills training in favour of other subjects. IT has become an integral part of human life. With the advent of 5G, the world is moving towards the Internet of Things which will bring a multitude of opportunities for businesses and graduates that are equipped with the correct IT skills and a multitude of risks for those that are not. Practices of almost all types of businesses, services or government have already changed extensively due to the use of IT (Zia, Ilahi, & Khan, 2018). When taken with the surveyed student feedback, what do these changes and such mean for the BSc BA program of FHNW and how does the programs curriculum possibly need to adapt?...