More than a Bumper Sticker: The Factors Influencing Information Systems Career Choices

Abstract

Considering the ongoing concerns regarding enrollments in MIS programs, it is necessary for MIS educators to understand the underlying motivations that influence student choices of major, as well as how students view the field of MIS related to these factors. To address this problem, a series of focus group sessions were conducted on three distinct samples of students which examined the following questions: (1) What factors influence a business student's selection of a field of study and/or career? (2) What factors encourage or deter a business student's choice to enter the field of MIS? and (3) What strategies can an MIS department employ to increase awareness about MISrelated careers among business students? Results from these focus groups suggest that most students rated job scope as an important issue in their deciding on a major; however, students with little or no knowledge of MIS perceived this career path as narrowly focused (e.g., sitting at a computer and coding all day). Results also suggest that non-MIS majors held more negative perceptions of the characteristics associated with MIS professionals, whereas freshman and sophomore students declaring MIS as their future major held more positive perceptions than non-MIS majors, and junior and senior MIS majors held even more positive perceptions.

A Measurement Instrument for Understanding Student Perspectives on Stereotypes of IS Professionals

“…Other studies also cite the gendered view of the profession and mention that female students have the perception that men, not women, pursue majors and careers in the IT field [Cory et al 2006;Galletta 2007;Zhang 2007]. These incorrect perceptions of IS professionals have been tied to the lack of information about the profession and about the typical career opportunities available to IS professionals [Firth et al 2008;Lomerson and Pollacia 2006;Scott et al 2009].…”

“…A detailed discussion of these approaches, as well as specific vignettes, can be found in the recent Communications of the Association of Information Systems articles [e.g. Firth et al 2008;Granger et al 2007b;Scott et al 2009;Street et al 2008].…”

Why IS after All? An Explorative Analysis of Professionals' Letters of Study Motivation

“…First of all, compared to other studies focusing on the motivation to study IS in another context (undergraduate, graduate) we can discuss IS specific study motivations from a different perspective (further education). Also studies focusing on undergraduate students shows that a general lack of knowledge about careers in the IS field is an important determinant for their motivation not to study IS [6]. Moreover, studies indicate that the personal interest in a degree program is the major influencing factor for the choice of an IS or a non-IS undergraduate degree program and perceptions of the IT job market are not as important [20].…”

“…In some prior research approaches the motivation to choose information systems (IS) as an undergraduate degree program has been examined [5,6,7]. However, the motivation of experienced professionals, to study an IS degree program, although having graduated in another discipline, has not been investigated so far.…”

The Effect of Civic Knowledge and Attitudes on CS Student Work Preferences

“…However, there is a competition for the most skilled professionals in the computing and software engineering job market. Work placements have been shown to be beneficial to careers after graduation [1] and learning about the industry affects the students' career choices [10]. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page.…”