Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the digital literacy of Gen Z employees in higher education and provide implications for HRD research and practice and contribute to the HRD literature on Gen Z employees in the 21st century workforce. Three research questions guided my study: How do Gen Z employees in higher education experience digital literacy? What digital literacy skills gaps exist in Gen Z employees in higher education? And what can higher education institutions do to close the digital literacy gap for Gen Z employees entering the workforce? To examine the lived experiences of Gen Z employees’ digital literacy in higher education, I chose a basic qualitative study design. This inductive approach was applied to all three research questions and helped me develop a deeper understanding of the meaning of participants’ lived experiences. To answer these three questions, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 participants (12 Gen Z employees and 7 supervisors of Gen Z employees) virtually via Zoom over the course of four weeks for the convenience of participants. I transcribed and coded the data with the help of a qualitative Ph.D. researcher and a quantitative Ph.D. researcher to ensure validity and reliability. I conducted member-checks with interview participants to check the validity of the data collected. There were five major themes identified from an analysis of the interview data using a thematic analysis of Lester et al. (2020): (1) experiencing digital literacy daily, (2) preferred technology, (3) workplace communication, (4) Gen Z skills gap, and (5) topics for future virtual training. This study was underpinned by: 1) the Virtual HRD theoretical framework (Bennett, 2014; McWhorter, 2014), 2) Generation Z cohort theory (Barhate and Dirani, 2022; Dimock, 2019), 3) the digital literacy conceptual framework (Pool, 1997; Martin, 2005; 2006), and 4) the digital literacy skills framework (Eshet-Alklai, 2004; 2012; Ng, 2012). v Eshet-Alklai (2012) and Ng (2012) were used to inform the interview protocol that I formulated based on the literature review of the framework for Gen Z’s digital literacy skills. The study’s findings emphasize the digital literacy skills required to reskill Gen Z employees utilizing Virtual HRD tools such as virtual training and development to offer practical solutions for HRD scholars and HRD practitioners. This study contributes to the research gap for HRD scholars and researchers, extending the literature on Gen Z in the workforce because of the lack of empirical studies on Gen Z employees in the workplace setting. Contributing to the qualitative empirical literature on Gen Z in the workforce, this study also adds to Gen Z literature by examining the different attributes of pre-Covid Gen Z and post-Covid Gen Z.

Date of publication

Summer 7-5-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

english

Persistent identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10950/4753

Committee members

Dr. Yonjoo Cho, Dr. Rochell McWhorter, Dr. Kouider Mokhtari

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Human Resource Development

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