{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]],"date-time":"2026-04-10T02:11:35Z","timestamp":1775787095639,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Informing Science Institute","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,1]],"date-time":"2023-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1672531200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JITE:Research"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Aim\/Purpose\t\nThis study aims to explore undergraduate IS students\u2019 employability skills development while performing their final capstone project during their academic studies.\n\nBackground\t\nThe importance of soft skills in the Information Systems industry is not an arguable fact and has been broadly discussed both in the industry and the academic literature. The ability of professionals to collaborate, communicate, manage time, negotiate, solve problems, make decisions, and self-learning, called employability skills, are essential skills needed in today\u2019s industry. The development of these skills during undergraduate studies is essential for graduate students\u2019 readiness for work.\n\nMethodology\t\nA mixed methods approach was employed using exploratory research de-sign, including qualitative and quantitative approaches. First, a qualitative analysis of 156 reflections was performed, resulting in the conceptual framework of facets. Then, a quantitative analysis of the data was per-formed to examine the facets and the differences between the stages of the capstone project.\n\nContribution\t\nThis study contributes to both academy and industry. The former may use this study\u2019s findings to upgrade academy courses and capstone projects in order to raise students\u2019 readiness for the industry. The later may learn the approaches the academy use and give appropriate feedback. \n\nFindings\t\nThe results showed that students\u2019 reflections on their motivation, knowledge, and skills (teamwork, time management, and inter-communication) demonstrate the importance of those facets in the process they underwent, especially since the reflections collected were unstructured. \n\nRecommendations for Practitioners\t\nInformation Systems undergraduate academic programs should develop structured capstone projects to provide the students with a better platform to learn and experience the employability skills the industry requires. \n\nRecommendations for Researchers \t\nThe study presents a conceptual model based on students\u2019 reflections on their experience performing a capstone project. The impact and influence of each of the model\u2019s components should be further researched and measured. \n\nImpact on Society\t\nMoreover, it is very important to prepare the students for employability by including a \u201creal-life\u201d capstone project at the end of their undergraduate studies to prepare them to be valuable in the workforce, even at their start point as juniors.\n\nFuture Research\t\nTo evaluate the process of employability skills development, a further study can examine students\u2019 perceptions prior to the capstone, during, and after to assess the progress and changes. To generalize the results, it would be valuable to investigate whether the findings of this study are consistent across different institutions and disciplines.\n\nKeywords\t\nemployability skills, capstone projects, soft skills, motivation, information systems studies, student reflections<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.28945\/5157","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,12]],"date-time":"2023-06-12T00:35:27Z","timestamp":1686530127000},"page":"235-261","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Let\u2019s Get Ready for Work \u2013 Employability Skills Development in an IS Capstone Project"],"prefix":"10.28945","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Ruti","family":"Gafni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Academic College of Tel-Aviv Yaffo"}]},{"given":"Moshe","family":"Leiba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Academic College of Tel-Aviv Yaffo"}]},{"given":"Sofia","family":"Sherman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Academic college of Tel Aviv Yaffo"}]}],"member":"11490","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023]]},"container-title":["Journal of Information Technology Education: Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.jite.org\/documents\/Vol22\/JITE-Rv22p235-261Leiba9376.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"http:\/\/www.jite.org\/documents\/Vol22\/JITE-Rv22p235-261Leiba9376.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,12]],"date-time":"2023-06-12T00:35:28Z","timestamp":1686530128000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.informingscience.org\/Publications\/5157"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023]]},"references-count":0,"alternative-id":["5157"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.28945\/5157","relation":{},"ISSN":["1547-9714","1539-3585"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1547-9714","type":"print"},{"value":"1539-3585","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023]]}}}