Computer Personnel: A Brief Historical View of the People Who Make Digital Things Work

Our objective with this study is to compare three distinct periods of CPR development. We contrast the original concerns regarding computer/information systems personnel from the early days of computing with emergent concerns reflecting the accumulation of evolution of both computing technology and IS management in the subsequent years. In order to accomplish our goal, we review the proceedings of the Computer Personnel Research (CPR) group analyzing the very first proceedings (1962), the next five proceedings (1964 to 1969), and the most recent five proceedings (2006 to 2011). Our intention is to present and analyze a broad picture of trends illustrating them with vignettes from practice and observations derived from particular studies. Finally, we identify and comment on the array of themes and topics that the CPR conferences have addressed in the most recent five years.