The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2007: §2713 Home Papers/Indices prev (§2712) Next (§2714)

Fri, Nov 2, 5:00 - 5:25, Ellwood 1 Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: Hunsinger, D S, J L Russ, and M B Knight. Factors Influencing Computer Information Systems Majors Whether to Join AITP. In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2007, v 24 (Pittsburgh): §2713. ISSN: 1542-7382.

Factors Influencing Computer Information Systems Majors Whether to Join AITP

Refereed

20 pages

D. Scott Hunsinger    [a1] [a2]
Department of Computer Information Systems
Appalachian State University    [u1] [u2]
Boone, North Carolina, USA    [c1] [c2]

Jessica L. Russ    [a1] [a2]
Department of Computer Information Systems
Appalachian State University    [u1] [u2]
Boone, North Carolina, USA    [c1] [c2]

Michael B. Knight    [a1] [a2]
Department of Computer Information Systems
Appalachian State University    [u1] [u2]
Boone, North Carolina, USA    [c1] [c2]

The Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) offers students, especially those majoring in Computer Information Systems (CIS), a number of opportunities and benefits. Even though it seems that most if not all CIS majors would join AITP, we have discovered that a majority of CIS majors at our university have not joined our local student chapter. To better understand why some students have not joined AITP, we first conducted interviews with CIS majors, both AITP members and non-AITP members, to elicit their perceptions, thoughts, and opinions about AITP. Based upon the findings from the interviews, we then surveyed fifty students at our institution. We tested for significant differences between AITP members and non-AITP members. We discovered that some students have misperceptions about AITP. We also found that certain peer influences are important in encouraging students to join the organization. In addition, we discovered that several factors, such as time and money, may prevent students from joining AITP. We also found that some students have strong feelings, both positive and negative, about how AITP is run at our university. Future researchers and stakeholders can use our study’s results to focus on the factors which influence CIS and related majors whether to join their local AITP student chapter.

Keywords: AITP, CIS majors, peer influences, perceptions, theory of planned behavior

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