Information technology literacy: the crucial factor in aged second-career academics’ sustainability

Abstract

This study addresses the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4’s objective to increase the number of adults with relevant skills for employment and decent jobs by looking at the context of aged academics in the domain of digital academia. The literature review reveals that there is a scarcity of research studies related to aged second-career academics. Previous studies which have been carried out on second-career academics in business schools did not address the issue of information technology (IT) literacy. Therefore, this exploratory study aims to contribute to the conversation of increasing and sustaining the number of professionally and capably enriched aged second-career academics in digital academia. A hermeneutic interpretive approach is adopted, covering eight aged second-career academics from various types of higher education institutions across Malaysia. The findings from this study suggest that significant support, appropriate IT development and training programs in enhancing their information technology proficiency and literacy is crucial. The finding suggests that this is particularly pertinent for sustainability with respect to aged second-career academics. The study is expected to enhance the governance of universities with regard to introducing proper orientation and training for supporting and improving the information literacy of aged second-career academics in business schools especially for blended delivery of business education.

Keywords

• aged second-career academics
• employment
• information technology literacy
• digitised academia
• business schools