Browsing by Subject "ohjelmistoala"

In recent rapidly changing working life, learning is seen as pivotal to be successful at work. For example high competition and changes in the working environment have led to lower hierarchies among organizations. Current working life thus emphasizes the responsibility of the individual worker in carrying out work properly. Professional agency is therefore important. However, it is not self-evident that companies offer the possibilities to exercise professional agency. The aim of this study is to examine how software professionals practice professional agency and learn in work. In addition this study aims to answer which factors restrict or enhance professional agen-cy and workplace learning in a software company. The theoretical framework of this study concentrates to examine professional agency from the subject-centered socio-cultural approach and considers job crafting as a mechanism by which workers may exercise professional agency. Additionally workplace learning is examined from different points of view. I collected the data in November 2018 by interviewing one hr-professional and six software professionals from one software company. I analyzed the tran-scribed and coded interview data by using content analysis. The results show that software professionals have high autonomy over their work when exam-ining the employer company. Professional agency was practiced and manifested especially when professionals made choices and exerted influence that affected their own work. Professional agency and workplace learning were restricted in different levels among customer projects. Re-garding workplace learning, learning was continuous and took place by doing daily work tasks, searching for knowledge independently or solving problems. Software professionals thought that there were not enough possibilities to learn collectively or seek and get help in the organiza-tion. Thus, there was an urgent need to organize venues for learning from others within the company. One possible solution mentioned by the interviewees was to create a learning arena based on workshops. In conclusion, to foster learning, it is important to create social events and arenas that offer possibilities to learn from other professionals across professional boundaries. The findings of this study support earlier studies by proposing that professional agency and workplace learning are intertwined and are also understood as social and contextual phenomena.