An Eight-year Study of the Influence of IT Career Camps on Altering Perceptions of IT Majors and Careers

The number of IT professionals in the workplace depends in large part on the number of new university technology graduates, especially in computer science and MIS. Since 2000, this number has declined precipitously, and, despite the modest upswing since 2010-2011, organizations and universities still struggle with numbers. This study examines a partnership between one university and a global IT firm to help increase IT majors through an annual high school IT camp focused on invigorating interest in technology careers. These (hopefully) fun, four-day, in-residence camps, held annually since 2007, feature technology training, appropriate tours, engagement with technology professionals, and education on the nature of IT work and job prospects. Based on extensive data collection from five camps (2010-2014), participants (particularly males) significantly increased their career awareness and positive attitudes toward an IT career and were more determined to choose IT as a major and career. While we did not meet all objectives, the IT camps played a crucial role in boosting interest in IT as a career and enhancing perceptions and beliefs of IT

How Can Universities Best Encourage Women to Major in Information Systems?

Despite both government and industry initiatives, the under-representation of women in information systems (IS) continues. Can academia help right this imbalance by helping fill the pipeline for technically qualified female employees? We analyze the results of four experimental interventions based on empirical studies and prior surveys designed to address this issue. We conducted these interventions as projects in an introductory undergraduate IS class in a public university in the western US. Sadly, none were effective in encouraging more female students to consider majoring in IS

Management Information Systems Education: A Systematic Review

Management information systems (MIS) programs were developed to prepare graduates to create innovative solutions to problems where business and technology intersect. As such, the curricula must change rapidly to stay current with industry standards, an accelerating moving target. This research presents the findings of a systematic literature review to identify and present trends in the scholarly literature on MIS education. The purpose of this approach was to understand how academia ensures students are prepared for industry and keeps pace with changing industry needs. Key findings from the literature are presented, as well as a compilation of areas for future research. Overwhelmingly, a lack of international perspective was identified as the vast majority of articles collected data in the US. Further, the direction of future research and exploration revolved around five themes of innovative pedagogical approaches, industry partnerships, subtopics of MIS education, new methods and metrics for measuring success in MIS education, and cross-disciplinary opportunities in fields such as mathematics, traditional business disciplines, and the hard sciences

“It’s Just Computers and Science” - Exploring Upper Secondary School Students’ Value Expectations, Perceptions and Propositions Around IS Outreach Programs

Education outreach programs for Information Systems (IS) major are important today. As the need for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals increases, higher education institutions create education outreach programs to attract students to study ICT majors, including IS. For the outreach programs to be successful, it is important to take the target audience and their needs and expectations into account. For this purpose, this paper investigates education outreach programs through the lens of service dominant logic and conducts an interview study with upper secondary education students to map their expected, perceived, and proposed values towards higher education outreach programs

Why are Women Underrepresented in IT? The Role of Implicit and Explicit Gender Identity

This study demonstrates that gender identity is an important factor affecting female university students’ decisions to major in IT and join the IT profession. It introduces the concept of implicit gender identity, defined as the degree to which people unconsciously, automatically, and uncontrollably associate themselves with their biological sex. Data were obtained from 185 students by means of a survey and the Implicit Association Test. The findings reveal that gender identity plays different roles between men and women in its influence on IT major and career choices. Implicit gender identity is a strong predictor of IT major and career choices for women but not for men. Explicit gender identity influences IT career choice only for women. Males’ and females’ IT major and career choices are influenced by normative pressures to the same degree. This study shows that gender identity can be a reason driving women away from the IT field

Why Are Women Underrepresented in the American IT Industry? The Role of Explicit and Implicit Gender Identities

Gender inequality in the IT profession is an acute issue with major individual, societal, and national implications. In this study, we build on the individual differences theory of gender and IT and extend it to account for subconscious processes that may drive women away from IT university majors and IT career choices. We specifically theorize on how the asymmetric roles of explicit and implicit gender identity facets impact the major selection of men and women students and affect their decisions to pursue the IT profession. To do so, this study introduces the concept of implicit gender identity, defined as the degree to which men and women subconsciously, automatically, and uncontrollably associate themselves with the masculine and feminine gender groups, respectively. We obtained data from 185 pre-major selection university students by means of a survey and the Implicit Association Test. The findings revealed that implicit gender identity was a significant predictor of IT major and career choices for women but not for men university students. Explicit gender identity had no influence on IT major and career choices for men or women university students. Nevertheless, men’s and women’s IT major and career choices appear to be similarly influenced by normative pressures. IT skills and IT work experience also impact such choices. Ultimately, this study shows that implicit gender identity can be a factor that drives women university students away from the IT profession and contributes to the gender gap in the field

An Examination of the Factors that Influence African American Females to Pursue Postsecondary and Secondary Information Communications Technology Education

In order for the United States to compete globally with other countries, it is vital that the United States diversify and increase the number of information communications technology professionals (ICT) if it is to remain internationally competitive. Therefore, the underrepresentation of various minority groups in ICT fields has developed into an issue of great concern for policy makers and as a result policy makers have urged researchers to search for plausible solutions to increase the number of ICT professionals. Upon investigation, researchers have discovered that African American women represent a population that can help increase the number of ICT professionals as well as diversify the field. However, research examining African American females in ICT education and careers is scarce. Therefore, the two studies enclosed in this dissertation are designed to examine the factors that influence African American females’ decision to pursue both postsecondary and secondary education. As such, the first study enclosed in this dissertation is a qualitative study that examined the pre-college and college experiences of African American females who were pursuing an ICT major. The second study enclosed is a mixed methods study that examined the social factors that predict ICT course enrollment for African American females at the secondary educational level. As a result of the phenomenological qualitative techniques implemented in study 1, the researcher concluded that the following pre-college experiences were influential in the participants’ decision to pursue an ICT degree: (a) high school academic achievement, (b) the influence of family, and (c) ability to embrace challenges. In addition, the following experiences were influential in the participants’ perseverance as ICT majors: (a) desire to become a role model, (b) acknowledging vulnerabilities (c) resilience, and (d) racial identity awareness. As a result of the quantitative and qualitative techniques used in study 2, findings indicated that technology use and interest was the primary predictor of ICT course enrollment

Individual Determinants of IT Occupational Outcomes

Extant research in information systems relies heavily on career anchor theory (CAS) as a lens to examine occupational choices and outcomes in information technology. Yet, the empirical results are inconclusive, and the power of the theory in predicting IT occupations is rather weak. With the growing demand for IT professionals, we need to examine other factors that can predict the IT occupational outcomes. In this paper, we draw on social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and examine self-efficacy as a complementary factor to career anchors in predicting whether seekers end up with technical, business, or managerial occupations in IT. Specifically, we propose and test a model that combines variables from both CAS and SCCT theories. We use multiple discriminant analysis to measure the extent to which variables from both theories discriminate the IT occupations. The results show that our model predicts occupations with an accuracy rate of 82.2 percent (compared to 75.2 percent for the original CAS model). Our results also show that individuals who hold a professional role that matches their profile are more satisfied than those who do not. Lastly, we discovered that, from individuals who hold a position that does not match their profile, business-IT professionals are most satisfied

The role of social identity in the formation of biases toward career paths in music among adolescent musicians

Researchers have investigated music education majors’ process of socialization to a teacher identity and found evidence of bias against the music education career path regarding perceptions of performance ability. Researchers have also identified that those on musical career paths share influential experiences and influences during adolescence in common, mostly related to performance. The purpose of this study was to examine, thorough the lens of social identity theory (SIT), whether these biases were formed during adolescence. The participants for this study were 821 high school musicians of varying experience and backgrounds. Participants reported significantly stronger levels of self- categorization (V = 0.256, F [5, 816] = 56.11, p = < .0001, η2 = .256) and differentiation (V = 0.459, F [5, 816] = 138.35, p = < .0001, η2 = .459) in favor of the music performance career path. In contrast, participants allocated resources significantly (V = 0.021, F [1, 821] = 17.39, p = < .0001, η2 = .021) in favor of the music education career path. Multiple regression of self-categorization, differentiation, and resource allocation scores found significant predictors among each of the demographic characteristics. Scores of 12th grade participants were significantly more in alignment with the music performance career path when compared to 9th grade participants, as was an increase in median family income percentile. Those who identified as soloists self-categorized and differentiated significantly in favor of the music performance career path compared with those who identified a choir as their main performance ensemble. The intention to major in music was also found to be a significant predictor of self-categorization and resource allocation in favor of the music performance career path when compared to those who were unsure or did not intend to major in music. Findings from this study demonstrate that the biases found among undergraduate musicians are present among adolescent musicians, along with other aspects of social identity development. Strategies to combat these biases are discussed, as well as the implications of these results as a possible outcome of the centrality of performance in music education