Factors Influencing Students’ Major and Career Selection in Systems Development: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Systems development is an academic major in many information systems (IS) programs. Attracting students who are interested in systems development is important to increasing IS enrollment. The purpose of this study aims to empirically investigate which factors influence students’ decisions to select systems development as a major and future career. This research makes three contributions to IS research and education. First, the research findings extend previous research associating outcome expectations and job availability with attitudes toward systems development. IS educators can use these findings to create better recruiting strategies and to improve the IS curriculum. Second, the findings connect academic-major choice with career choice. The findings indicate that attitudes toward systems development and personal innovativeness in IT (PIIT) positively influence students’ intentions to pursue a career as a systems developer. Third, this research paves a foundation for further investigation into systems development behavior and performance in the workplace.