ISEDJ

Abstract: Research utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior to understand behavior should first elicit beliefs about the phenomenon from the target population. In order to understand the reasons why students choose to major or not major in Management Information Systems (MIS), we elicited beliefs from 136 students attending university in the United States and in Zambia. We employed a questionnaire with open-ended questions to elicit beliefs about majoring in MIS. The gender split of study participants was 52%-48% with a female majority and their ages ranged from 19 to 35. Using content analysis of the generated qualitative data, we identified 11, 5 and 9 categories of behavioral, normative and control beliefs respectively. The results of our study indicate that student beliefs about the MIS major and profession have changed over the past decade; students now favorably perceive the MIS job market and attach importance to the opinions of industry professionals when making the decision to major in MIS. Analysis of the ranked elicited beliefs shows that most students believe that the MIS degree grants them competitive advantage in the employment marketplace.

Keywords: career, elicitation study, enrollment, information systems major, Management Information Systems, Theory of Planned Behavior

Download this article: ISEDJ - V14 N4 Page 69.pdf

Recommended Citation: Chipidza, W., Green, G., Riemenschneider, C. (2016). Salient Beliefs in Majoring in Management Information Systems: An Elicitation Study. Information Systems Education Journal, 14(4) pp 69-80. http://isedj.org/2016-14/ ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of EDSIG 2015)