IT Workforce

The data tables in this file are provided as a summary of the data collected from the ECAR IT Workforce survey conducted in 2015. Question text has been abbreviated in this document, but full question text can be found in the survey instrument (http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/SI/esi1505.pdf). The data are disaggregated by Carnegie Classification (2010) in some tables. Responses to open-ended questions are not included to preserve respondent anonymity. Note that the number of respondents (n) varies from question to question and that percentages for multiple-choice questions may not sum to 100% due to independent rounding. Seventeen respondents were not matched to a Carnegie Classification or country; therefore, the total number of respondents (1,188) is larger than the sum of respondents as grouped by those categories (1,171 for questions without missing data).

For more information about this study, including the associated research report(s), slide deck(s), and infographic(s), visit the research hub at

https://library.educause.edu/resources/2016/3/the-it-workforce-in-higher-education-2016.

Table of Contents

Respondent by institution type (Carnegie class and country) 4

Institution type 4

Section A. Your IT Career (all respondents) 5

1 Are you currently employed in an IT position (as a staff member, manager, or CIO) at an institution of higher education? 5

2 Which best describes the department/unit in which you work? 6

3 What is your employment status in your current IT position? 7

5 What is your current position? 8

6 What position did you hold immediately before your current position? 9

6a Was this position (immediately before your current position) inside higher education? 10

6b Was this position (immediately before your current position) at your current institution? 11

7 What position did you hold two positions ago? 12

7a Was this position (two positions ago) inside higher education? 13

7b Was this position (two positions ago) at your current institution? 14

8 What position do you aspire to hold immediately after your current position? 15

8a Do you anticipate that this next position will be inside higher education? 16

8a Do you anticipate that this next position will be inside higher education? ('Don't know' removed) 17

8b Do you anticipate that this next position will be at your current institution? 18

8b Do you anticipate that this next position will be at your current institution? ('Don't know' removed) 19

9 What position do you aspire to hold after your next position (two positions in the future)? 20

9a Do you anticipate that this position (two positions in the future) will be inside higher education? 21

9a Do you anticipate that this position (two positions in the future) will be inside higher education? ('Don't know' removed) 22

9b Do you anticipate that this position (two positions in the future) will be at your current institution? 23

9b Do you anticipate that this position (two positions in the future) will be at your current institution? ('Don't know' removed) 24

10 For your current IT position, what is your annual salary (in U.S. dollars)? 25

11 Which of the following best describes your current position? 26

11a If you know, what is the title of the position your predecessor took immediately after leaving the position you now hold? 27

Section B. Your Previous Experience (all respondents) 28

1 Have you ever held non-higher education professional IT positions in the following industries or organizations? (Select all that apply.) 28

2 Have you ever held non-IT professional positions in higher education in any of the following areas? (Select all that apply.) 29

Section C. Your Current Working Situation (all respondents) 30

1 Rate the importance of the following factors in keeping you at an institution (regardless of your current situation): 30

3 It is very important to me that I work in higher education rather than in another industry, business, or sector. 31

4 Will you pursue employment opportunities outside your current institution in 2016? 32

5 How many years have you: 33

Section D. Skills, Professional Activities, and Satisfaction (all respondents) 34

1 At least once in the past two years, I have: (Select all that apply.) 34

2 My direct manager/supervisor/person to whom I report encourages me to: (Select all that apply.) 35

3 Regardless of whether you have done the following, rate their contribution (or potential contribution) to your professional growth in your current position: 36

4 Rate the importance of the following skills for success in your current IT position: 37

5 Assess your proficiency in each of the following skills: 38

6 Rate the extent to which each of the following is an obstacle to your effectiveness in your current IT position: 39

7 My direct manager/supervisor/person to whom I report: 40

8 Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements about your current IT position: 41


Section E. IT at Your Institution (all respondents) 42

1 At your institution, IT (in general) is best described as: 42

2 Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements about the central IT organization at your institution: 43

Section F. Questions for Managers and CIOs 44

1 Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements about central IT staffing at your institution: 44

2 Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements about the human resources (HR) support at your institution: 45

4 Rate the following in terms of their importance in maintaining an IT workforce adequate to meet institutional needs in the next three years: 46

5 Please indicate the frequency with which you participate in the following activities: 47

6 On average, what percentage of your time do you allocate in your current IT position to the following activities? 48

Section G. Questions for CIOs 49

1 Are you a member of the president or chancellor's cabinet? 49

2 How many staff (FTE) are in central IT at your institution? 50

3 In the past year, how many positions (FTE) have been added to central IT? 51

4 Have any positions been eliminated from central IT in the past year? 52

4a In the past year, how many positions (FTE) have been eliminated from central IT for the following reasons? 53

5 Are there plans for central IT to reorganize in the next year? 54

6 How much has outsourcing (in any area) affected the IT workforce (in any way) at your institution up to this point? 55

4
Respondent by institution type (Carnegie class and country)
Institution type
All / AA / BA / MA / DR / Other U.S. / All U.S. / Non-U.S. / n
Institution type / 100% / 7% / 14% / 21% / 40% / 8% / 89% / 9% / 1,188
Section A. Your IT Career (all respondents)
1 Are you currently employed in an IT position (as a staff member, manager, or CIO) at an institution of higher education?
Institution type
All / AA / BA / MA / DR / Other U.S. / All U.S. / Non-U.S.
Yes, as IT staff / 35% / 23% / 30% / 37% / 40% / 36% / 36% / 33%
Yes, as an IT manager/supervisor / 44% / 38% / 37% / 37% / 51% / 44% / 44% / 44%
Yes, as a CIO or equivalent / 20% / 40% / 33% / 26% / 10% / 20% / 20% / 23%
n / 1,188 / 80 / 166 / 248 / 477 / 91 / 1,062 / 109
6
2 Which best describes the department/unit in which you work?
Institution type
All / AA / BA / MA / DR / Other U.S. / All U.S. / Non-U.S.
Central IT / 72% / 80% / 87% / 82% / 61% / 67% / 72% / 74%
All other departments/units / 28% / 20% / 13% / 18% / 39% / 33% / 28% / 26%
n / 1,188 / 80 / 166 / 248 / 477 / 91 / 1,062 / 109
7
3 What is your employment status in your current IT position?
Institution type
All / AA / BA / MA / DR / Other U.S. / All U.S. / Non-U.S.
Permanent full-time employee / 98% / 96% / 99% / 98% / 98% / 98% / 98% / 96%
Temporary full-time employee / 1% / 0% / 1% / 0% / 1% / 0% / 1% / 2%
Permanent part-time employee / 1% / 1% / 0% / 0% / 1% / 2% / 1% / 1%
Temporary part-time employee / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0%
Contractor / 1% / 3% / 1% / 1% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 1%
n / 1,187 / 80 / 165 / 248 / 477 / 91 / 1,061 / 109
8
5 What is your current position?
Institution type
All / AA / BA / MA / DR / Other U.S. / All U.S. / Non-U.S.
IT executive leadership / 31% / 44% / 39% / 33% / 23% / 33% / 30% / 39%
Information security and services / 6% / 4% / 5% / 10% / 6% / 7% / 6% / 5%
Academic computing/
instructional technology / 14% / 14% / 14% / 15% / 16% / 11% / 15% / 9%
Networks and systems / 11% / 4% / 11% / 12% / 10% / 11% / 10% / 16%
Research computing/
cyberinfrastructure / 1% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 2% / 2% / 1% / 2%
Administrative/
enterprise IT / 7% / 6% / 10% / 8% / 7% / 7% / 8% / 3%
IT operations and service delivery / 9% / 8% / 3% / 4% / 14% / 9% / 9% / 9%
Desktop services or client support / 7% / 6% / 14% / 6% / 8% / 1% / 8% / 4%
Applications development or operations / 5% / 3% / 1% / 5% / 5% / 4% / 4% / 7%
Data, analytics, and business intelligence / 4% / 6% / 0% / 4% / 4% / 9% / 4% / 0%
Design, media, and web / 2% / 3% / 1% / 2% / 2% / 3% / 2% / 4%
Other circumstances / 4% / 4% / 2% / 3% / 4% / 3% / 3% / 3%
n / 1,188 / 80 / 166 / 248 / 477 / 91 / 1,062 / 109
NOTE: Specific positions are grouped by the IT sectors found in the survey instrument.
9
6 What position did you hold immediately before your current position?
Institution type
All / AA / BA / MA / DR / Other U.S. / All U.S. / Non-U.S.
IT executive leadership / 16% / 21% / 19% / 19% / 11% / 21% / 16% / 21%
Information security and services / 5% / 5% / 5% / 6% / 5% / 2% / 5% / 3%
Academic computing/
instructional technology / 11% / 16% / 12% / 9% / 13% / 10% / 12% / 6%
Networks and systems / 13% / 9% / 16% / 14% / 11% / 10% / 12% / 17%
Research computing/
cyberinfrastructure / 1% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 2% / 0% / 1% / 1%
Administrative/
enterprise IT / 7% / 9% / 8% / 7% / 8% / 4% / 7% / 5%
IT operations and service delivery / 10% / 9% / 7% / 5% / 13% / 10% / 10% / 10%
Desktop services or client support / 11% / 9% / 14% / 15% / 10% / 9% / 12% / 10%
Applications development or operations / 5% / 1% / 2% / 5% / 5% / 12% / 5% / 6%
Data, analytics, and business intelligence / 4% / 8% / 3% / 6% / 3% / 2% / 4% / 4%
Design, media, and web / 4% / 0% / 1% / 4% / 4% / 8% / 3% / 6%
Other circumstances / 14% / 14% / 14% / 10% / 17% / 12% / 14% / 11%
n / 1,187 / 80 / 166 / 248 / 476 / 91 / 1,061 / 109
NOTE: Specific positions are grouped by the IT sectors found in the survey instrument.
10
6a Was this position (immediately before your current position) inside higher education?
Yes, it was inside higher education. / No, it was in another industry. / n
Institution type
All / 79% / 21% / 1,158
AA / 79% / 21% / 78
BA / 80% / 20% / 160
MA / 81% / 19% / 243
DR / 81% / 19% / 466
Other U.S. / 78% / 22% / 91
All U.S. / 81% / 19% / 1,038
Non-U.S. / 73% / 27% / 103
11
6b Was this position (immediately before your current position) at your current institution?
Yes, it was at my current institution. / No, it was at another institution. / n
Institution type
All / 74% / 26% / 915
AA / 66% / 34% / 62
BA / 66% / 34% / 128
MA / 72% / 28% / 198
DR / 80% / 20% / 375
Other U.S. / 63% / 37% / 70
All U.S. / 73% / 27% / 833
Non-U.S. / 88% / 12% / 75
NOTE: Among respondents who said this position was in higher education
12
7 What position did you hold two positions ago?
Institution type
All / AA / BA / MA / DR / Other U.S. / All U.S. / Non-U.S.
IT executive leadership / 11% / 23% / 11% / 12% / 6% / 12% / 10% / 19%
Information security and services / 4% / 3% / 2% / 6% / 4% / 4% / 4% / 3%
Academic computing/
instructional technology / 8% / 10% / 9% / 6% / 8% / 6% / 8% / 6%
Networks and systems / 14% / 10% / 18% / 14% / 12% / 10% / 13% / 18%
Research computing/
cyberinfrastructure / 1% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 1% / 0% / 0% / 2%
Administrative/
enterprise IT / 7% / 9% / 5% / 8% / 7% / 7% / 7% / 3%
IT operations and service delivery / 7% / 5% / 7% / 5% / 7% / 8% / 7% / 8%
Desktop services or client support / 13% / 12% / 15% / 14% / 14% / 8% / 13% / 9%
Applications development or operations / 6% / 3% / 7% / 4% / 7% / 9% / 6% / 9%
Data, analytics, and business intelligence / 3% / 3% / 2% / 5% / 3% / 3% / 4% / 2%
Design, media, and web / 4% / 0% / 1% / 4% / 5% / 8% / 4% / 5%
Other circumstances / 23% / 23% / 23% / 22% / 25% / 25% / 24% / 17%
n / 1,169 / 78 / 163 / 247 / 468 / 89 / 1,045 / 107
NOTE: Specific positions are grouped by the IT sectors found in the survey instrument.
13
7a Was this position (two positions ago) inside higher education?
Yes, it was inside higher education. / No, it was in another industry. / n
Institution type
All / 67% / 33% / 1,172
AA / 70% / 30% / 79
BA / 68% / 32% / 161
MA / 67% / 33% / 247
DR / 69% / 31% / 471
Other U.S. / 70% / 30% / 90
All U.S. / 68% / 32% / 1,048
Non-U.S. / 62% / 38% / 107
14
7b Was this position (two positions ago) at your current institution?
Yes, it was at my current institution. / No, it was at another institution. / n
Institution type
All / 64% / 36% / 788
AA / 51% / 49% / 55
BA / 49% / 51% / 108
MA / 64% / 36% / 166
DR / 73% / 27% / 324