Subtopic Deep Dive
IS Enrollment Trends and Retention Strategies
Research Guide
What is IS Enrollment Trends and Retention Strategies?
IS Enrollment Trends and Retention Strategies examines declining enrollment in Information Systems majors, student perceptions influencing major choices, and interventions such as experiential learning, mentoring, and certification programs to improve retention.
Research identifies factors like weak math backgrounds and gender biases contributing to low retention (Rizvi et al., 2011, 61 citations). Studies analyze attitudes toward IS careers using theories like the Theory of Reasoned Action (Joshi and Kuhn, 2011, 45 citations). Over 10 key papers from 1984-2019 track trends, with foundational work on attrition in online programs (Terry, 2001, 102 citations).
Why It Matters
Declining IS enrollment threatens program sustainability amid STEM competition, as enrollment rises in CS but not IS (Rizvi et al., 2011). Retention strategies like Scratch-based CS0 courses address math weaknesses, boosting freshman retention (Rizvi et al., 2011). Certification programs benefit students and educators by aligning curricula with industry needs (Randall and Zirkle, 2005). Gender-targeted interventions increase female majors, addressing 55% lower female IS enrollment (Croasdell et al., 2011). These efforts ensure workforce readiness in cybersecurity and IT, where 59% of positions remain unfilled (Mountrouidou et al., 2019).
Key Research Challenges
Declining IS Major Enrollment
Competition from CS and other STEM fields reduces IS majors despite business school growth (Downey et al., 2011, 55 citations). Students perceive IS as less innovative than CS (Croasdell et al., 2011). Marketing and awareness campaigns are needed to highlight IS career paths (Joshi and Kuhn, 2011).
Low Retention Due to Math Gaps
Freshmen with weak math backgrounds drop out early in programming courses (Rizvi et al., 2011, 61 citations). Introductory Java pitfalls exacerbate attrition for IS students (Pendergast, 2006, 37 citations). Experiential tools like Scratch improve retention but require curriculum integration.
Gender Imbalance in IS Majors
Women avoid IS due to stereotypes and lack of early exposure, comprising fewer majors (Croasdell et al., 2011, 55 citations). Interventions must target high school influences and mentoring (Downey et al., 2011). Measuring long-term impact remains difficult without longitudinal data.
Essential Papers
Assessing Enrollment and Attrition Rates for the Online MBA
Neil Terry · 2001 · THE journal · 102 citations
Distance learning is not a new subject, but recently it has come in vogue again. With the advent of new educational and training technologies augmented by the Internet, distance learning is a viabl...
Computer science program requirements and accreditation
Michael C. Mulder, John F. Dalphin · 1984 · Communications of the ACM · 63 citations
article Free AccessComputer science program requirements and accreditation Authors: Michael C. Mulder Univ. of Portland, Portland, OR Univ. of Portland, Portland, ORView Profile , John Dalphin Norw...
A CS0 course using Scratch
Mona Rizvi, Thorna Humphries, Debra A. Major et al. · 2011 · Journal of computing sciences in colleges · 61 citations
Although computer science enrollment has increased in the freshman and sophomore levels over the past few years, computer science departments are still faced with retention issues, particularly if ...
Information Technology Student-Based Certification in Formal Education Settings:Who Benefits and What is Needed
Michael H. Randall, Christopher Zirkle · 2005 · Journal of Information Technology Education Research · 58 citations
An international association advancing the multidisciplinary study of informing systems. Founded in 1998, the Informing Science Institute (ISI) is a global community of academics shaping the future...
Attitudes and Influences toward Choosing a Business Major: The Case of Information Systems
James P. Downey, Ronnie Mcgaughey, David Roach · 2011 · Journal of Information Technology Education Research · 55 citations
An international association advancing the multidisciplinary study of informing systems. Founded in 1998, the Informing Science Institute (ISI) is a global community of academics shaping the future...
Why don't more women major in information systems?
David Croasdell, Alexander McLeod, Mark Simkin · 2011 · Information Technology and People · 55 citations
Purpose Increasing enrollments in colleges of business have not been matched by women majoring in the field of information systems (IS). This paper aims to explore reasons why women choose not to m...
Securing the Human
Xenia Mountrouidou, David Vosen, Chadi Kari et al. · 2019 · 54 citations
Recent global demand for cybersecurity professionals is promising, with the U.S. job growth rate at 28%, three times the national average. In a global survey, 2,300 security managers reported that ...
Reading Guide
Foundational Papers
Start with Terry (2001, 102 citations) for attrition benchmarks, Mulder and Dalphin (1984, 63 citations) for program standards, and Rizvi et al. (2011, 61 citations) for retention via introductory tools.
Recent Advances
Study Joshi and Kuhn (2011, 45 citations) on career interest models, Croasdell et al. (2011, 55 citations) on women in IS, and Mountrouidou et al. (2019, 54 citations) for cybersecurity pipeline gaps.
Core Methods
Attitudinal surveys (Downey et al., 2011), enrollment statistics (Terry, 2001), experiential pedagogy like Scratch (Rizvi et al., 2011), and certification integration (Randall and Zirkle, 2005).
How PapersFlow Helps You Research IS Enrollment Trends and Retention Strategies
Discover & Search
Research Agent uses searchPapers and exaSearch to find papers on IS retention like 'A CS0 course using Scratch' by Rizvi et al. (2011), then citationGraph reveals clusters around enrollment decline from Terry (2001) and Joshi (2011), while findSimilarPapers uncovers related gender studies.
Analyze & Verify
Analysis Agent applies readPaperContent to extract attrition rates from Terry (2001), verifies claims with CoVe against OpenAlex data, and runs PythonAnalysis with pandas to statistically compare enrollment trends across Rizvi (2011) and Croasdell (2011), graded by GRADE for evidence strength.
Synthesize & Write
Synthesis Agent detects gaps in gender retention strategies post-Croasdell (2011), flags contradictions between certification benefits (Randall and Zirkle, 2005) and programming pitfalls (Pendergast, 2006); Writing Agent uses latexEditText, latexSyncCitations for Downey (2011), and latexCompile for reports with exportMermaid diagrams of retention models.
Use Cases
"Analyze enrollment decline trends in IS majors from 2000-2020 using paper data."
Research Agent → searchPapers + exaSearch → Analysis Agent → runPythonAnalysis (pandas plot of citations/enrollment from Terry 2001, Rizvi 2011) → matplotlib graph of attrition rates.
"Draft a LaTeX report on retention strategies citing Joshi and Croasdell papers."
Synthesis Agent → gap detection → Writing Agent → latexEditText + latexSyncCitations (Joshi 2011, Croasdell 2011) → latexCompile → PDF with retention flowchart via exportMermaid.
"Find code examples from papers on Scratch for IS intro courses."
Research Agent → paperExtractUrls (Rizvi 2011) → Code Discovery → paperFindGithubRepo → githubRepoInspect → runnable Scratch demos for retention teaching.
Automated Workflows
Deep Research workflow conducts systematic review of 50+ papers on IS enrollment via searchPapers → citationGraph → structured report with GRADE scores on Terry (2001) attrition models. DeepScan applies 7-step analysis with CoVe checkpoints to verify gender trends in Croasdell (2011) against recent cybersecurity demands (Mountrouidou et al., 2019). Theorizer generates theory on certification-retention links from Randall (2005) and Pendergast (2006).
Frequently Asked Questions
What defines IS Enrollment Trends and Retention Strategies?
It covers declining IS majors, perceptual barriers, and interventions like mentoring and experiential learning (Downey et al., 2011; Rizvi et al., 2011).
What are key methods in this subtopic?
Surveys of attitudes using Theory of Reasoned Action (Joshi and Kuhn, 2011), attrition rate analysis in online programs (Terry, 2001), and intro course designs like Scratch (Rizvi et al., 2011).
What are the most cited papers?
Top papers include Terry (2001, 102 citations) on MBA attrition, Mulder and Dalphin (1984, 63 citations) on accreditation, and Rizvi et al. (2011, 61 citations) on CS0 retention.
What open problems exist?
Longitudinal studies on gender interventions post-Croasdell (2011), scaling certifications beyond Randall (2005), and adapting programming for diverse math skills (Pendergast, 2006).
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