An Instrument to Measure Student Attitudes Toward and Perceptions of MIS: Exploring the Success of Efforts to Change Perceptions of the Field Across Time and Gender

The Management Information Systems (MIS) field suffers from two pressing workforce issues, lack of diversity and an inadequate supply of entry level talent. Much has been done in the last five years to address these two related issues, but little is known about the success of these efforts. This study develops an instrument based on similar work in the hard sciences to measure 3 student attitudes towards MIS (Attitude toward success, usefulness, and effectance motivation) and student perceptions of both MIS and MIS professionals. Data was collected from 1102 college students over a 5 year period. Paired t-tests were used to test differences across time periods for each gender and to test differences between males and females within time periods. Surprisingly, little progress has been made to improve attitudes and perceptions. Interestingly, females and males do not currently view MIS differently.