Understanding and Supporting Collaboration Between Youth in Technical Workplaces

Abstract

Emerging digital technological advances have been a driving force in the evolution of the modern workplace. This influence extends not only to the creation of new industries and types of work, but also to how work is completed. For example, new technologies have made it possible for us to coordinate and communicate over vast geographic distances. In response to these changes, considerable efforts have been made to re-train our existing workforce to have the technical and communication skills necessary to be successful. This shifting landscape presents exciting opportunities to focus on ways to support youth - who have spent their entire lives with access to inter-networked technologies - as they prepare to enter the workplace of the future. This dissertations describes longitudinal research conducted at the Digital Harbor Foundation 3D Print Shop over a period of more than three years. The print shop offers after-school technical employment to youth from diverse backgrounds. To understand the experiences and challenges faced by this population as they transitioned into this environment, we have utilized a variety of methods including participant and direct observation, interviews, the analysis of chat logs, a focus group, and a participatory elicitation method. The three studies included in this document all seek to better understand how youth coordinate work in technical settings with a specific focus on their usage of communication technologies. The first documents and unpacks instances where youth successfully and unsuccessfully coordinated their work during asynchronous handoffs. The second study characterizes the youths' use of Slack, a popular workplace chatting tool and investigates the factors motivating and limiting adoption of this tool. The final study examines the youths' attitudes and perceptions towards workplace communication technologies. Findings and recommendations from this dissertations offer insight into how we can better prepare and support our future workforce.