Theoretical Foundations.

According to Lloyd (2010), information literacy (IL) is a sociocultural practice that encompasses more than simply managing, locating, and evaluating information. It also includes the ability of new employees to convert information into practical knowledge and adapt to the contextual demands of a contemporary, multimodal and information-driven work environment. Lloyd explains this is accomplished by developing shared and refined understandings of the information landscape in the unique workplace environment, which is in contrast to academia, where IL is largely a set of self-driven and individualized activities.

Approaches to information gathering that align well with Lloyd’s sociocultural work are the information foraging theories described by Sandstrom (1994) as Optimal Foraging Theory and furthered by Pirolli and Card (1999) as Information Foraging Theory (IFT). Like Lloyd’s work, these theories emphasize a very localized approach to information seeking, where individuals strive to increase and optimize their search results based on their heavily contextualized environments. IFT pairs the concept of information foraging with food foraging in that information seekers explore a range of information sources using a “diet selection” method. Like animals foraging for food, information seekers will spend a given amount of time trying to extract information from a given “patch” of information and will move between patches and back and forth as needed to maximize their gains. This approach is influenced by many individual and local factors, such as the amount of time available to search, the knowledge and skills of the searcher, and the richness of the information available. Viewing information seeking through the lens of IFT is useful in business workplace environments since the information problems are largely ill-defined and more complex than academic research assignments. For example, in an accounting firm a new hire may work on a client audit where they are provided with documents that are missing important information or data, are out of date, etc. They are expected to identify the gaps and obtain this information from other colleagues or the client, while adhering to organizational privacy and communication guidelines. In contrast, an academic assignment may include all of the information they need from the onset to perform the analysis.

Employer Information Literacy Expectations.

As part of Project Information Literacy, Head et al. (2013) interviewed 23 employers across a range of industries to learn which information competencies the employers felt were important for university graduates to possess when entering the workplace. An important finding that aligns with Lloyd (2010) is that employers widely see new graduates as lacking in the sociocultural ability to “engage team members during the research process”. They felt this was a significant limitation to the new graduates’ effectiveness as new employee hires. Additionally, the employers conveyed that the new graduates failed to explore topics deeply and thoroughly and often stopped at the first solution discovered.

In addition to the Head et al. study (2013), multiple researchers have explored employer IL expectations specifically in business contexts. This was done both directly, via employer surveys and interviews, and indirectly, through examining job postings or gathering information from students about their workplace experiences. Conley and Gil (2011) surveyed business professionals to determine how they conceive of the term “information literacy” and their perceptions of the aspects of IL that are the most difficult for recent business graduate hires. They found most professionals were not familiar with the phrase “information literacy” but ranked the components of IL (having the skills to locate, retrieve, evaluate, and use information) as important for their workplace and identified “evaluating information” as the most difficult component of IL for new hires. Both Sokoloff (2012) and Jewell et al. (2020) interviewed business employers – Sokoloff in the United States and Jewel et al. in Western Australia – and also found the concept of IL to be very important to employers, even though employers do not recognize IL in the same way or use the same language to talk about it as librarians.

Gilbert (2017) took an indirect approach by examining entry-level job postings for different types of advertising related positions in the United States and found that IL skills related to evaluating and using information and data were abundant in the job ads. They also found that Excel was the software tool most frequently mentioned for data analysis in advertising job postings. Additionally, Phillips, Howard, and Brewster (2023) studied employer IL expectations indirectly by surveying business students on internship or co-op about their on-the-job information-related experiences and their findings suggest there are vast differences between academic IL and workplace IL.

Our pilot study provides an understanding of the direct employer perspectives of managers from four large, multinational employers who hire or supervise undergraduate business new hires. These employers hire from our institution and from thousands of business schools globally, which makes our findings potentially insightful and helpful to librarians from other institutions. Our study contributes to the literature in this area by providing a more current understanding of employer expectations than many prior studies that focused on business contexts (Conley & Gil, 2011; Sokoloff, 2012). We chose a qualitative approach for this pilot to be able to gather nuanced information from employers so we could best understand the whys and hows of the current workplace environment. For future work, we recommend quantitative studies that may be more widely generalizable.

Participants.

The four study participants were from large, multi-national companies that hire extensively from Purdue University and other top-ranked institutions with business programs. All the participants worked with hiring and onboarding undergraduate business new hires in some capacity in their organizations and had some level of continuous contact with the new hires in their first couple of years on the job. The industries represented include finance and accounting, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods. Years of industry work experience for each participant were one year (1 participant), seven years (1), fifteen years (1), and twenty-five years (1).

Data collection.

We worked with staff from the business school’s career services office to identify employers and individuals to contact for this study in a convenience sampling approach. All the contacts were individuals who had previously participated in recruiting Purdue’s business school undergraduates. The center staff emailed six individuals at different organizations on our behalf to ask if they would be willing to participate in a virtual interview. We secured interviews with two people from these invitations and an additional two were recruited by a direct email from one of the authors. The study was approved as exempt research by Purdue University’s Institutional Review Board #2022–1235. All interviews were conducted in November and December 2022.

The semi-structured, recorded interviews took place over Zoom and lasted between 45 and 60 minutes. Transcriptions were obtained from scribie.com, a fee-based transcription software tool. The authors made manual corrections as needed to areas where the tool’s basic option was unable to be transcribed. We asked each individual nine open-ended questions about their expectations relating to new university business hires with regard to information literacy in the workplace. The interview questions are shared in Appendix A. We modified the protocol Phillips et al. (2020) used to investigate employer expectations of engineering new hires to address business new hires as our interview protocol. Phillips et al. (2020)’s instrument is based on the employer interview process developed by Head et al. (2013). Our institution is heavily STEM focused and many engineering students also take business courses in our minor and certificate programs. Additionally, many business students at Purdue partner with engineering students at co-curricular events. We felt this instrument best met our needs due to this connection between disciplines.

Data Analysis

First, all three authors read the transcripts multiple times to gain an understanding of the data. We next applied a combination of deductive and inductive qualitative analyses to the transcripts. For the deductive approach, we independently applied the themes that Phillips et al. (2020) identified and described in their investigation of engineering employer expectations: gathering information; evidence and synthesis; using specific types of information; learning; navigating internal systems; and satisfaction with new hires. We also inductively identified “data” as a theme using a color-coding system to identify themes in the survey responses. All our coding was completed manually by printing out the transcripts and using highlighters to color-code the themes. We then met multiple times to discuss and rectify any discrepancies and calibrate our coding.

Gathering and Using Information.

All employers discussed how important it is for new hires to be able to gather and use information. New hires were often good at seeking out certain types of information, particularly online, but several employers mentioned that new hires struggled in several areas. These included the interpersonal and intercultural competencies needed to obtain information from other people. Also, new hires needed improvement in exercising autonomy and independence to find information without having been given a specific assignment.

The interpersonal and intercultural competencies needed for new hires in gathering information were stressed as important by all employers. They talked about how an employee would often need to consult a colleague or internal expert when seeking information, rather than just searching online. Employer A mentioned that students struggle with:

The willingness to go outside of their comfort zone and [use] some of the interpersonal skills to have those one-on-ones and be willing to lay it out there and say, “You're the expert. Teach me about it. Let me understand, how do I go from point A to point B type things.”

Employer B also emphasized the importance of interpersonal sources of information, noting, “there's a lot of information out there, but notably, a lot of it is in people's brains and not on a library website or something that you can just go and dig into.”

The employers talked about the importance of being able to work with colleagues and clients from around the world since they are multi-national companies. Employer D commented specifically on intercultural competencies needed for new hires:

I think it was good to understand how the cultures react or are structured differently...The way[s] you extract information in different countries are different, and there's the language and other things, and then also this cultural piece comes in as well, as our world becomes more country-agnostic or globally efficient in a way, I think thaťs one thing that I notice is something that instructors can really emphasize.

Evaluation and Synthesis.

All employers articulated the struggles of new graduates in evaluation and synthesis of information. Employers found that new graduates have a difficult time with more complicated tasks that require synthesizing information from different sources and finding answers to problems that don’t have defined answers. Employer A commented that graduates struggle with:

Learning how to check yourself, ask questions, [how to] practice getting information in the right way on something thaťs already been done, emulate that, and then do it on your own, and I think that there's been some times where people just display information thaťs just incorrect because of the way that it was organized and less so [because it was] analyzed.

Employer B found that graduates struggled when a question didn’t have a defined answer:

I'm gonna say in a general sense, [graduates struggle with] problems that donť have an answer, and so thaťs really, really challenging, I think at first, knowing there's not one answer you're trying to get to because you'll never know if you did something perfectly right or not. People can encourage you and say, oh, this is really great work, but at the end of the day, there are problems that donť have a set answer…Without necessarily having one answer, iťs more so, hey, let me gather all of these data points, [conduct] information analysis, and then let me put out somewhat of a view on the topic, and so iťs more so taking a stance [on a problem rather] than it is delivering one answer most of the time.

Employer A said that new hires need to improve their “willingness to get multiple sources to either support or have multiple perspectives on an issue, because I think if you settle on one, you might prematurely come to a wrong conclusion.” All employers discussed the difficulties new graduates have in this area, but Employers C and D also talked about this being an area that improves with more experience and is hard to excel at when you are first on the job.

Use of Specific Types of Information.

The employers were from a variety of industries and discussed different types of information, including company financial information, competitive intelligence, company profiles, business journals, internal data, legal and tax regulations and treaties, and internal revenue codes. In addition, they also talked about subscription databases, with Employer D naming Factiva specifically. Employer C noted “When we think about the information that we use in our job, iťs very specialized, and so it wouldnť necessarily be all that useful for them to know that some very useful, broad information site is available because what we really need is to train them on how to use the [specialized] services that we use.”

Learning

The employers discussed a mix of formal and informal learning on the job. All have training and onboarding systems in place for new hires, including formal classes and apprenticeships, but they also discussed informal learning from people and experiences over time in the day-to-day operations. Continuous learning is expected because operations are always changing. Employer C discussed learning on the job this way:

We donť expect you know anything when you start [working] with us, we're gonna teach you everything you need to know. What university has done for you, [is] it has prepared your mid-way of thinking, maybe you've got some technical or technological type[s] of skills that are very useful, but what it really shows is that you can learn and retain information at least long enough to take a test on [it] and get a good grade, and from there...we'll take it from there.

When discussing classroom instruction to prepare students for the workforce, Employer A suggests:

Incorporating more case studies in the classroom, that helps get everyone involved, when you have the case studies like that happen on a regular basis, the same set of individuals are probably participating, so those individuals are getting really good at some of the skills that I think are fairly important, but if we're able to incorporate that into the classroom a little bit more seamlessly, that would be awesome. I think that would help all the students.

The employers also discussed using projects that are more ambiguous and do not have obvious correct answers to help simulate how business decisions work in the real world.

Navigating Internal Systems.

While employers of business graduates did not talk about navigating internal systems as much as the employers of engineering students (Phillips et al., 2020), it was still mentioned by three of the four. All three mentioned the need to navigate a company intranet as well as finding information inside and outside of departmental silos. This is not something they expected a new graduate to come in knowing how to do but was something they expected would be learned during onboarding or training.

Satisfaction with New Hires.

Employers discussed both tasks that new hires do well, as well as the challenges they face. Graduates generally do well at finding online sources and working forwards and backwards from those to find additional resources, however they struggle with some types of online information. Employer C noted:

I tell people like, “Hey, here's a company that, iťs interesting, go check them out and let me know something about them." They canť really do that very well. I would have thought that they would know where data sources were, publicly available information, things like that, so we do have services we use, for instance, we use Factiva, we can go get company-specific information, LinkedIn is a place that I use a lot myself, but no one has ever surprised me by finding an unknown source of data on the one hand, or just coming to me early on in their career with a very comprehensive set of information about a company, it’s like, hey, here's what we know about this company, no one's ever surprised me with that.

Employer D also stated they were “sometimes surprised at how low technological savviness there is.” The employers also discussed new hires’ ability and willingness to ask the right questions, but had mixed opinions on how well this was done.

Data.

Employers C and D spoke extensively about the need for new hires to understand data and, specifically, data ethics and privacy. This was a big concern as they handle sensitive client data that is illegal to release without permission in some cases. This was not something we specifically asked about in the interview protocol but was an emergent topic that the two employers brought up and discussed extensively. For example, Employer D said:

These days [new hires need] a lot more [information] around the awareness of PII, the personal identifiable information and privacy info sec [information privacy and information security], that is huge within our company in the past two to three years. As more and more data [is available], we were collecting a lot more data versus five years ago, and with that comes consumer information and all those things, so having [an] understanding [of] the privacy, information privacy, and when and what to use is a foundational piece before we can even use the information. So, we often talk about the skill set of collecting [information], but having that base understanding of how to use it, or if either we can use it or not, it becomes even [more] important because you can collect really good information, but if you're tripping on some of the [privacy and security] aspects, you can’t even use it. So thaťs one thing that we've been pretty vocal [about] as a company to all employees, including new hires.

Employer C expressed similar sentiments, noting:

And data management, by the way, for us, data privacy and data security is way more important than the actual skill set, because if you donť know how to use Excel, then you can learn it, but if you inadvertently send a bunch of private client information out, then you get fired and the firm gets a lawsuit potentially, and things are really bad, so way more of that mindfulness about data security and data privacy is way more important than the actual ability to [use Excel to]manage the data and version control.

Employer C also discussed privacy as a generational concern regarding new graduates:

So yeah, so the generational mindset of, there really is no privacy, you may want it, but hey old man, privacy is an illusion, and everything's out there, we can get their hands and everything anyway, we still have to be mindful of that. And our clients expect it, our regulators expect it, and reputationally we just demand it, so they're not really conditioned that way when they come into the workforce, and we spend a lot of time with them, get[ting them] in and trained up on that.

More typical data management skills were also valued, with Employer C saying:

We make a pretty good use of [Microsoft] Teams where people can get in multiple and use it and things like that, but we do a lot of work off-line and version control is a big issue. In some instances, we have certain naming conventions that we use, that they're expected to use, but thaťs not always the case, and... Yeah, then iťs important. I mean, just being aware that data version control is something you need to be mindful of, is something that they donť always get as well.

Employers also tended to use “data” and “information” interchangeably, and this seems to be much more fluid in the workplace as opposed to the strict definitions used in academia. The employers suggest that student projects in the classroom could include projects that simulate how data will be used in the workplace to help teach the importance of data ethics and privacy, with Employer D suggesting:

It could be just doing a consumer interview, how would you use what kind of information and understanding the guardrails of what you can and cannot do as part of the list of how to collect information or doing that specific project.

Limitations.

Workplace information literacy is contextual and our small sample size and focus on employers who recruit heavily from Purdue University may limit the applicability of our results to other institutions. However, since our employer interviewees were from large, multi-national companies that recruit and hire business undergraduates from many institutions across the USA, our findings may be relevant and useful to other librarians and instructors given that previous studies have found employer expectations to be consistent across industry and position (Head et al., 2013).

Conclusion & Future Work.

Academic librarians are always striving to best prepare our students for the workplace. Understanding how new graduates perform information tasks can help us adapt our instruction and curriculum to meet the needs of the current workplace. Our study found employers want graduates who have a basic understanding of business information; the ability to learn; intercultural and interpersonal skills; the ability to evaluate synthesize information from multiple sources; and who understand not only how to manage and use data, but also data privacy. Business librarians might consider creating activities and assignments that reflect the real-world challenges they will face as reported by employers. We suggest that incorporating more active learning through case studies; role-playing scenarios where students elicit information from one another; data and information privacy activities and simulations; and the integration of intercultural competency education in the library classroom could help increase business student preparedness for their future careers. Providing the opportunity for students to explore the iterative nature of information gathering could enhance their ability to think critically on the job. We might also consider reframing how we discuss information literacy in the business classroom. Academia and industry are often talking about the same information tasks and resources, but we are using different language for the same things. Considering how employers think and talk about these skills might better prepare our students to articulate their qualifications during interviews and in the workplace. The information challenges business graduates are facing are ones business librarians are uniquely positioned to address, though their ability to do this will likely depend on their role in the library and their instruction responsibilities. A librarian teaching credit-bearing courses can integrate changes directly into their course curriculum, whereas a librarian teaching via guest lectures or embedded instruction will need to collaborate with the primary course instructors to balance employer expectations with the course objectives.

Future work in this area could include surveys of employers to make results generalizable. We would also like to incorporate questions about artificial intelligence (AI) in business as our data was collected just prior to the generative AI explosion in 2023. It could also include research about business librarians focused on incorporating the recommended classroom activities and assessments to make information literacy instruction more representative of the information world students will face after graduating.