What Influences Students to Study Information and Communication Technology?

There is a high demand for qualified information and communication technology (ICT) practitioners in the European labor market. According to recent reports, ICT companies want to hire thousands of ICT specialists but are unable to find the talent. A problem at many universities is a high dropout rate among ICT students, especially during the first year. Therefore, educational research is needed to help universities and ICT companies develop activities to recruit and retain ICT students. To begin to understand the problem of dropouts, it is important to explore what has influenced first-year students to study ICT. Data were collected in the autumn of 2013 from 517 first-year students who started their studies in ICT-related curricula at the three main universities in Estonia where ICT is taught. During the first month of their studies, the students answered a questionnaire that contained multiple-choice and open-ended questions. The results showed surprisingly that a good salary in the ICT field is not a very important reason why students are interested in studying ICT. However, owning a personal computer at a young age had a very large influence on their curriculum choice. Reasons for choosing to work while simultaneously studying ICT at university were also investigated. Financial situation and work experience were the main reasons why students would choose to start working while studying. This study shows that the majority of first-year students are certain that they will finish their studies; however, about one-tenth of the students report a probability of finishing less than 60%. Longitudinal data are necessary to show if and how students’ motivation changes during their studies and how universities can prevent the problem of high dropout rates in ICT studies.