Determining Factors that Lead Students to Study Information Systems using an Alumni Focus Group

Given the need to attract more students to major in information technology or information systems, a study was conducted using a focus group of alumni from Miami (Ohio) University’s information systems program. The focus group identified factors that influenced their choice to study information systems, and these factors were then ranked and classified into categories for further analyses. Results reveal that lucrative job opportunities and career advancement is the number one reason that these alumni chose to major in management information systems and that female panelists listed this category as the critical reason for their choice more so than their male peers. The categories can also form a framework for further study of factors influencing students’ decision to study MIS/IS and then choose a career in IT, and can be used by educators to create programs and marketing efforts to attract students at a younger age to study computing.

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