The Dunning-Kruger Effect in a workplace computing setting

This study investigated the Dunning-Kruger Effect in the domain of workplace computing. The Dunning-Kruger Effect is present in situations where people with lower levels of skill or knowledge in a domain do not recognise their actual level of skill. Participants in this study were asked to make an estimate of the size of the domain of end-user computing as it relates to the greater domain of computing as a whole. It should be noted, that although end-user computing is present in many situations, on the whole its undefined nature is unappreciated by many users. A measure of perception was used as a way of investigating if people, who appreciate the extent of a domain, will be more conservative in their estimations of it, their knowledge in it and that same knowledge of an average person or peer. Results indicate that the Dunning-Kruger Effect is present in workplace end-user computing in situations where self-assessments are based on what a person believes there is to know in a domain. However, this effect was not present in situations where participants made estimations of the knowledge of workplace end-user computing of an average end-user. In this case, these estimations appeared to be based on what a person believed they knew not what they believed there was to know. Technology is advancing at a fast rate and end-user computing applications are not immune to this change. This study is important as it highlights a domain, which, due to its fast-changing nature, is near impossible to define but one that is critical to modern workplaces. The study shows that neither employers nor employees currently enough of an appreciation of a domain to understand its extent and how misinterpreting skill level can pose challenges to both groups.