Inhibitors and Influencers of Rural Students' Technology-Related Career Choices

At a time when the demand for people with IT skills is at an all-time high, the number of U.S. information systems and computer science students has taken a nose dive. There are two phenomena influencing this trend, namely an overall decline in male enrollment in liberal arts colleges and universities and a decline in enrollment of females in technology-related majors. To remain globally competitive we need strong IT related enrollments. There are 3 objectives for this research: (i) examine major influencers in a student’s choice of major; (ii) examine student attitudes toward technology careers; and (iii) examine student understanding of the breadth of technology careers available in the current global business environment. Results of this study will provide an understanding of inhibitors and influencers of major choice of students beginning their post-secondary education and may be helpful to universities in planning recruitment to and promotion of technology-related majors.