Career Barriers among Information Technology Undergraduate Majors

Structural changes in the economy have created an employment environment that dictates hiring selectivity within the information technology (IT) field. Higher employer expectations combined with a tighter career market have introduced challenging career barriers for IT undergraduate majors. Swanson and Woitke (1997) defined career barriers as “events or conditions, either within the person or in his or her environment, that make career progress difficult” (p. 434). The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived likelihood of encountering certain career barriers and, if the barriers were encountered, the degree to which the barriers would hinder undergraduate IT majors’ career progress. The findings of this study support recent research (Luzzo & McWhirter, 2001) that found women perceived significantly greater career barriers than men did, especially for career choice. Ethnic minorities perceived greater barriers to finding a job, job performance, and career balance than non-minorities.