Factors Affecting Career Choice: Comparison Between Students from Computer and Other Disciplines

Alexander, Patricia M; Holmner, Marlene Amanda; Lotriet, Hugo; Matthee, Machdel; Pieterse, Vreda; Naidoo, Saloshana; Twinomurinzi, Hossana; Jordaan, Danie

doi:10.1007/s10956-010-9254-3

Cited by 94 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This particular paper has not explored the issue of career advice although the data set does include information regarding this. We will limit our remarks here to say that computing is a relatively new subject area compared to most other career choices and may be suffering from limited career guidance at school with the result that potential students depending on information from the media and advice from friends and family regarding computing careers while relying on school and university far more for advice on other careers [3]. Our research results calls for an ICT career guidance partnership with high schools and tertiary institutions.…”

Section: Interest and Securitymentioning

confidence: 96%

Changing career choice factors as the economic environment changes

Alexander

Twinomurinzi

2012

Proceedings of the South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists Conference

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This paper reports on a longitudinal study carried out amongst students at one South African university over three years. The research identifies changes in perceptions regarding the factors that these students consider important in choosing a career and pays attention to four groups, namely female non-computing major students, male non-computing major students, female computing major students and male computing major students. Interest in the subject remains the most important factor. Major changes were identified regarding how important self-efficacy is considered to be and the importance of career progress. Another important finding is that male computing major students appear to be totally re-evaluating their beliefs regarding what is important in choosing a career. The third finding relates specifically to changes regarding self confidence in using computer technology amongst male students regardless of whether they are intending on taking computing and non-computing third year courses.

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Section: Interest and Securitymentioning

confidence: 96%

Changing career choice factors as the economic environment changes

Alexander

Twinomurinzi

2012

Proceedings of the South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists Conference

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“…In addition, Alexander et al (2011) find that women appear to take the advice of others more (mainly their family) when choosing what to study. This is congruent with the data found by Anguelova (2001), according to which women let themselves be guided more by external factors when choosing a technical career, while men make a choice because of their intrinsic interest in the job.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Therefore, they do not always make the decision with the seriousness of thought required and often fail to avail themselves of the opportunities offered by the education and university system itself such as "Open Day at University", career guidance at school, etc. (Alexander et al, 2011). But everyone is interested in making deci-sions that have positive results, and choosing a career is a matching process, where the person matches his/her personal needs with the field that best fits them (Parsons, 1909;Anguelova, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Career choice in engin students: its relationship with motiv., satisf. and the dev. of profes. plan. [Elección de carrera en estudiantes de ingeniería: ¿cómo se relaciona con su motivación, su satisfacción y el desarrollo de sus proyectos profesionales?]

2015

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Título: Elección de carrera en estudiantes de ingeniería: ¿cómo se relaciona con su motivación, su satisfacción y el desarrollo de sus proyectos profesionales? Resumen: Elegir qué estudios realizar es una tarea relevante para el desarrollo personal, social y económico. Este trabajo analiza la relación entre la calidad de la elección de carrera en estudiantes del área científico-tecnológica con su motivación, satisfacción y ciertas características de sus proyectos profesionales. Para ello se tomó una muestra incidental de 89 estudiantes de las titulaciones de Arquitectura, Informática e Ingeniería de Montes de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM). Se presentan los datos descriptivos tras el análisis de las respuestas a un cuestionario adaptado ad hoc, y los resultados acerca de la dependencia entre las variables consideradas (analizados a través de la prueba Chi-Cuadrado) y de las diferencias en satisfacción en función del género y la titulación (pruebas no paramétricas). Los contrastes confirman dependencia entre la motivación y la satisfacción que los estudiantes manifiestan, la titulación elegida con la temporalización y la estructuración de sus proyectos, así como entre el género y la temporalización de sus proyectos. No se encontraron diferencias significativas en las medidas de satisfacción (promedio de rangos). Palabras clave: Elección profesional; motivación vocacional; desarrollo de carrera; proyectos profesionales; ingeniería; educación superior. Abstract:Choosing a university degree is a relevant process for the personal, social and economic development. This study was designed to explore the students' choice for technical degrees. It is centered on the relationship between the quality of their choice and their motivation, satisfaction and development of professional plans. The inquiry involved an incidental sample of 89 students from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) in Architecture, Computer Sciences and Forestry Engineering. After the analysis of the ad hoc adapted inventory, descriptive data and the results concerning dependence between the variables considered (analyzed with Pearson's chi-squared test) are presented. Non-parametric tests were used to asses differences on satisfaction by gender and degree studied. Results show dependence between the students' motivation and satisfaction, and the later and their professional plans' content. Gender and degree are also dependent with professional plans' temporality, as well as degree with their structure. No significant differences were found for the means in satisfaction.

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“…Only a very small proportion of student candidates regarded the financial aspect as the reason for applying -high salaries in the IT field were mentioned by only 3.3% and bigger scholarships by 0.3% [29]. Other studies, too, have revealed that students enrolled in computer related curricula tend to assign less importance to their future salaries compared with other students [31]. At the same time, some studies have also shown that receiving financial support increases the probability of students finishing their studies [16], [18].…”

Section: B Entering Universitymentioning

confidence: 99%

What Happens to IT Education? The Case in Estonia with Some Recommendations for International Discussion

Pedaste¹,

Kori²,

Tõnisson³

et al. 2017

IJIET

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Abstract-The demand for IT skills and knowledge has increased worldwide, but nevertheless there is a shortage of programmers and other IT workers. To ensure the sustainability of the field it is necessary to change current IT educational practices and identify areas for improvement. This study, conducted in Estonia, focused on three aspects: IT students' source of interest in IT, their motivation to continue higher education IT studies and their motivation to graduate. A large-scale survey (n=1374) involving most Estonian IT students in higher education was conducted. The results showed that sparking an interest in IT can already start at the general education level, where a more systematic approach is needed to introduce programming. In-service training and retraining for informatics teachers seems to be a solution. At the level of higher education, the primary factor influencing students' choice of curriculum was their interest in IT. In order to retain IT students, a solution offering students the chance to combine work and studies is needed. Work-related factors are the main predictors of students' dropout probability, while cognitive ability and motivation have a weaker effect. Based on this study in Estonia, some internationally applicable recommendations are made to different stakeholders.

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Factors Affecting Career Choice: Comparison Between Students from Computer and Other Disciplines

Cited by 94 publications

References 18 publications

Changing career choice factors as the economic environment changes

Changing career choice factors as the economic environment changes

Career choice in engin students: its relationship with motiv., satisf. and the dev. of profes. plan. [Elección de carrera en estudiantes de ingeniería: ¿cómo se relaciona con su motivación, su satisfacción y el desarrollo de sus proyectos profesionales?]

What Happens to IT Education? The Case in Estonia with Some Recommendations for International Discussion

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