ISTJs in cognito as INTJs?

[Recluse]

This study found that students with computing majors are most likely to be ST--especially ISTJ--and least likely to be NT:
http://isedj.org/isecon/2006/3723/ISECON.2006.Choi.pdf

Information gleaned from the report:

Among students with computing majors, ISTJ (21.1%) and ESTJ (14.8%) are the two most common types. ST is present in both ISTJ and ESTJ; conversely, the least common type contains NT.

Among students with science majors, INTJ (18.2%) and INTP (17.5%) are the two most common types. A profound difference between this group and the computing group is the presence of N preference over S preference.

(Incidentally, ISTJs were also found to be the majority of engineers in other, unrelated studies.)

I've noticed that most programmers online (mis?)label themselves as INTJ scientific types. I wonder if this is because NTs are portrayed as self-confident intellectuals who come up with inventive solutions, while ISTJs are portrayed as angst-ridden nerds who slave away in cubicles. Either that or INTJs are far more common than the statistics suggest, based on the sheer numbers of online programmers who claim this type.

Has negative stereotyping kept people from realizing their true types? Or is this study seriously flawed? I found it interesting and would like to hear others' views.

[FDG]

Computing majors, right now, are a widespread, common kind of major. Probably the reference points for NTs could be considered mathematics or theoretical physics.

[Jennifer]

It depends on the type of computer work one is doing. Design-oriented work is more appealing to the NT; but STJ is definitely a temperament that excels in engineering and computer work that demands technical knowledge, the manipulation of details, and precision.

On my development team:
Project leader: INTJ
Programmers: ISTP, ISTJ, ISFP, ENTP
Report/Screen Design: INTP
Tech Writer: INFP

Especially when one gets into maintenance activities and less design / more code, STJ really shines.

[wildcat]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

It depends on the type of computer work one is doing. Design-oriented work is more appealing to the NT; but STJ is definitely a temperament that excels in engineering and computer work that demands technical knowledge, the manipulation of details, and precision.

On my development team:
Project leader: INTJ
Programmers: ISTP, ISTJ, ISFP, ENTP
Report/Screen Design: INTP
Tech Writer: INFP

Especially when one gets into maintenance activities and less design / more code, STJ really shines.

Yes.
A sunshine.

The people who understand engineering are the ones who know what makes the clock tick.

Not the STJs.

What about the STJs who never went to school and never learned the code?
They are at the bottom of the line.

The curse of the northern suburbs of Paris and London.

[ptgatsby]

Just remember that there are ~2x as many ST as NTs in this world. NTs are over represented in computer majors (and the industry in general) far more than STs are.*

(* edit: To be clear, I'm talking about broader numbers than what are listed in this report)

[ferunandesu]

I'm a Cognitive Science, Computer Science double major. There were/are an abundance of STJ students in my lower level/required courses. However, courses like AI, Symbolic Programming, Robotics, Evolutionary Computation, VR, Game Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Deductive Systems, & Natural Language Processing are almost entirely composed of NT's.

It seems that they're initially interested in these types of courses, but are later driven away by cryptically abstract professors and grad students.

[Recluse]

Thanks for all the replies!

I asked because I'm plotting out a science fiction story and need to develop an IT character. Your replies helped clear up some issues that were making me ambivalent about which type to give the guy. (Yes, I assign my fictional characters types. Makes them seem more realistic and distinct from each other.)

[Wolf]

Statistics only get you so far, especially when you are basing it on who majors in what.

Online you have self-selection - STs are not interested in most online interaction

In the real world, most of these ISTJs do network administration or software maintenance, which NTs do not like to do, and accounts for at least 95% of the work involved in the industry. Therefore, most of us NTs are really annoyed/bored most of the time.

The most prominent people - the classic "computer hackers" - those that blazed the way to a world where it is possible to train people to just do monotonous maintenance tasks, were and are almost exclusively NTs, particularly INTJs.

Nearly every logic-oriented field will be lead by NTs at first, then the STJs will maintain what we created... The scariest thing in the world is a project that was started/designed by an XSTJ. For the same reason that XSTJ-started/designed projects are scary, I believe at least half of the claimed INTPs and INTJs I've seen online are ISTPs, ISTJs, or some random repressed extrovert...

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Computer Science is more of a T focused field of study than an N focused field of study. You are going to find plenty of both ST's and NT's in IT jobs. But there will be more ST's simply because S's outnumber N's in the normal population.

[MacGuffin]

Yes, computer programming is ideally suited for ISTJs. Many ISTJs misidentify themselves as INTJs.

Originally Posted by wildcat

Yes.
A sunshine.

The people who understand engineering are the ones who know what makes the clock tick.

Not the STJs.

What about the STJs who never went to school and never learned the code?
They are at the bottom of the line.

The curse of the northern suburbs of Paris and London.

The funny thing is, you could post this on just about any random thread and it will make as much sense.