Why college undergraduates choose IT: a multi-theoretical perspective

Continuous Intention of Entry-Level MIS Professionals to Stay Working in the MIS Field

While many studies focused on what is management information system (MIS) major, how it attracts potential students, and describes needed skills, the perceptions of fresh MIS graduates' continuous intention to stay working in the field, especially in developing countries has not yet been studied empirically. In addition, there seems to be minimal effort investigating the issue from the Arab perspective. This article is the first that develops a continuous model and is built upon the expectation confirmation model and other subsequent efforts. This model links three external variables, among them two new ones: skill-job fit, Wasta, and computer self-efficacy. This model was validated using a sample of 105 graduates in Kuwait. Results reveal that the new cultural variable “Wasta” has impact on continuous intention through the mediation of satisfaction, while skill job and computer self-efficacy affect continuous intention through the mediation of expectation and confirmation, and the skill-job fit exert the strongest impact on intention. This research is expected to advance both theory and practice.

A Nuanced Look at Women in STEM Fields at Two-Year Colleges: Factors That Shape Female Students' Transfer Intent

In this study, we explored the relationship between the intent to transfer upward and a set of motivational, contextual, and socio-demographic background factors among 696 female students beginning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs or courses at two-year colleges in a Midwestern state. Drawing upon survey data and administrative records, our multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that students' math and science self-efficacy beliefs, as well as transfer-oriented interaction, were significant and positive predictors for their intent to transfer into STEM fields as opposed to having no intent to transfer. In addition, the association between transfer intent and these key motivational and contextual factors was moderated by students' racial/ethnic backgrounds, marital status, and childcare obligations. For example, despite the positive relationship between transfer-oriented interaction and the intention to transfer into STEM fields, Black women were less likely to have intent to transfer into STEM fields than White students until Black students reported a moderate level of transfer-oriented interaction. Conversely, Hispanic students were more likely to report intent to transfer into STEM fields than their White peers, even when Hispanic students reported a relatively low level of engagement in transfer-oriented interaction. These and other reported findings bear important and nuanced implications as policymakers, educators, and researchers continue to discover ways to better support women's educational pathways and success in STEM fields at and through two-year colleges.

Investigating the Determinants of Starting Salary of IT Graduates

The starting salary of a fresh graduate is considered a potential indicator of career advancement. Yet few studies have examined the determinants of starting salaries of information technology (IT) graduates. Further, existing studies have focused on how demographics affect either the salary or the kind of job the graduate enters into, but rarely both. In this paper, we explore both and examine if entry into an IT job mediates the effects of demographics on the starting salaries of fresh IT graduates. Our model is tested using data from annual surveys of undergraduate students majoring in IT at a large public university in Singapore over a 5-year period. We find that gender and foreigner status influence both starting salary and fresh graduates' entry into an IT vs. non IT job. Further, the effect of gender on the starting salaries of IT graduates is partially mediated by their entry into an IT job. In other words, part of the reason for a gender difference in starting salary could be attributed to female IT majors being less likely to enter IT jobs upon graduation than their male counterparts. On the other hand, foreign IT graduates are more likely to enter IT jobs, yet their starting salaries are found to be lower than local graduates. The implications of the results for research and practice are discussed.