Information Technology Certification: A Student Perspective

1
Information Technology Certification A Student
Perspective

• Tanya McGill and Michael Dixon
• Murdoch University
• Australia

2
IT Industry Certification

• Industry certification involves passing
  recognized standardized tests to establish
  competency in defined areas.
• IT industry certifications are designed to
  provide targeted skills that have immediate
  applicability in the workplace.
• Increasing numbers of job advertisements specify
  a preference for those holding certifications
• Vendors such as Microsoft and Cisco Systems
  dominate the certification market worldwide
• There are over 300 IT certifications available
  and over 1.6 million people have earned over 2.4
  million certifications

3
Potential Benefits of Certification

• Benefits to employers - more capable employees
• Greater knowledge and skill gt increased
  productivity
• Reduced training costs
• Higher morale and commitment
• Benefits to students (i.e. potential employees)
• Marketability
• Higher salaries
• Increased self-confidence
• Benefits to educational institutions
• The opportunity to extend program content
• Increased assessment capability
• Attractiveness to students

4
Potential Risks of Certification

• Heavy involvement of vendors
• absence of unbiased neutral groups for
  determining content, creating exams and
  authorizing examiners.
• The rapidly changing knowledge base might mean
  that certification is not of lasting value.
• Some certifications don't require practical or
  real world experience, thus limiting the claims
  of usefulness.
• Loss of control over content (by academics) that
  arises when certification exams determine the
  content of courses and academic programs
• Pressure on academics to maintain their own
  proficiency levels and certification status.

5
Purpose of the Study

• There has been little research to date on IT
  certification
• Given the increasing pervasiveness of
  certification in the IT profession, more research
  is needed to verify the benefits of IT
  certification and to determine the importance of
  the proposed risks
• This exploratory study investigates the
  perceptions of students of both the benefits and
  risks of certification and its importance in
  obtaining employment.

6
The Study

• Participants in the study were students enrolled
  in several ICT courses. Students who have
  successfully completed these courses are
  qualified to pursue Cisco certification.
• They were recruited during class and completed a
  questionnaire on the spot.
• The questionnaire included items relating to
• Background of students
• Perceptions about the importance of different
  industry certifications for employment
• Perceptions of the relative importance of the
  proposed benefits of seeking certification
• Perceptions of the relative importance of the
  concerns about certification

7
Participant Background
8
Benefits for Employment

• Certification was perceived as very important
  both for those not currently employed in IT
  (4.09/5) and for those currently employed in the
  IT industry (3.75/5)
• Student perceptions of the importance of
  certification appear to be consistent with
  Industry perceptions
• In general, participants believed that obtaining
  certification would lead to clear financial
  benefits. Eg
• Those not currently employed in IT anticipated
  on average a 25 increase in starting salary for
  a CCNP certification and a 20 increase for a
  MCSE.
• Those currently employed in IT anticipated on
  average a 17 increase in salary for a CCNP
  certification and a 9 increase for a MCSE.

9
Anticipated Certification Salary Increases
10
Benefits for Employment (ctd)

• Students who were not currently employed in IT
• Varied greatly in terms of salaries they
  anticipated
• Expected higher financial gains on average than
  did those currently employed in IT
• Expectations of many are not realistic
• Students who were employed in IT
• Expectation were realistic
• Showed less variability in financial expectations
  
• Expected lower financial gains on average than
  did those not currently employed in IT

11
Relative Importance of Benefits

• All benefits were ranked relatively highly
• The most important benefits related to gaining
  experience with real tasks and real equipment
  consistent with participants undertaking Cisco
  certifications. Obtaining knowledge also rated
  highly.
• The middle ranked group of benefits related to
  the role of certification in improving
  opportunities to obtain jobs having a widely
  recognized, formal, marketable qualification
  that many employers demand.
• Higher salaries, credibility and self-confidence
  were less important

12
Relative Importance of Benefits
13
Types of Benefits

• Factor analysis suggests the existence of three
  underlying dimensions
• marketability benefits which relate to
  desirability in the eyes of employers
• personal benefits which relate to the impact of
  the certification on the way in which the student
  perceives themselves and to the ease of their
  study
• learning benefits which relate to intrinsic
  fulfillment from the type of learning.

14
Relative Importance of Risks

• Whilst the participants were conscious of the
  potential risks, they did not appear to be overly
  concerned about them.
• The highest ranked risk was that the rapidly
  changing knowledge base might mean that
  certification is not of lasting value. If regular
  recertification is required, the costs and
  investments of time can become prohibitive.
• The middle ranked group of risks relate to the
  potential for bias in certification.
• Lowest ranked risks related to the impact of
  certification on instructors

15
Relative Importance of Risks
16
Conclusion

• Certification was perceived as an important
  factor in achieving employment and students
  anticipate that it will lead to substantial
  financial benefits.
• Salaries are not seen as the most important
  benefit of certification. Real world experience
  is valued more highly.
• But students with no IT experience overestimate
  the potential financial benefits. Instructors
  should ensure that they have current information
  about salaries and employers skill requirements
  so that they can help guide their students.
• Students are aware of the possible risks of
  certification but are not overly concerned about
  them.
• The issue considered most important was the
  potential for the rapidly changing knowledge base
  to mean that certification is not of lasting
  value.

17
Conclusion

• More research is needed to understand the
  benefits of IT certification and to determine the
  importance of the proposed risks.
• The study reported on in this paper has provided
  a starting point, but future research should
  extend it to holders of IT certifications and to
  employers.