ISEDJ

Information Systems Education Journal

Volume 12

V12 N4 Pages 4-16

July 2014

Investigating a 21st Century Paradox: As the Demand for Technology Jobs Increases Why Are Fewer Students Majoring in Information Systems?

Timothy Joseph Burns
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Mahwah, NJ 07430, USA

Yuan Gao
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Mahwah, NJ 07430, USA

Cherie Sherman
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Mahwah, NJ 07430, USA

Alex Vengerov
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Mahwah, NJ 07430, USA

Stephen Klein
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Mahwah, NJ 07430, USA

Abstract: This paper reports the results of a survey administered to 322 undergraduate business students enrolled in an introductory Information Systems course at a public liberal arts college located in the northeast US. The goal of this research was to learn, given the increased demand for technology oriented jobs, why fewer students are choosing the Information Systems (IS) major. The survey results indicate that lack of interest in IS or greater interest in another major are the primary reasons why students do not select IS as their major. Furthermore, even though students are knowledgeable about the career opportunities in the IS field, they simply do not find the IS field interesting enough to major in it.

Keywords: IS Education, IS Enrollment, IS/IT Career, IS/IT Major, Career Awareness, Job Characteristics

Download this article: ISEDJ - V12 N4 Page 4.pdf

Recommended Citation: Burns, T. J., Gao, Y., Sherman, C., Vengerov, A., Klein, S. (2014). Investigating a 21st Century Paradox: As the Demand for Technology Jobs Increases Why Are Fewer Students Majoring in Information Systems?. Information Systems Education Journal, 12(4) pp 4-16. http://isedj.org/2014-12/ ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2013)