Recruiting and retaining women into the Management Information Systems and Computer Science majors at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Abstract

Information technology has been the backbone of many businesses in corporate America and educational institutions for years, and it is growing at an alarmingly fast rate. This profession has been male dominated for all those years and to this day the number of women is still significantly low. Not only is corporate America to blame for the lower number of women compared to men in information technology professions, but educational institutions are also part of the problem. Women have been underrepresented and unpaid compared to men in information technology professions since the start of technology. Educational institutions need to find ways to increase and retain the number of women in their information technology programs. The purpose of this study was to determine why women decide to enter the information technology programs at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire and the reasons why they stay. The results of this study will generate ideas and strategies that educational institutions can use to recruit and retain women into information technology programs. The women were current students of the MIS CS majors at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire were surveyed. These surveys were distributed through electronic mail due to the ease of reaching the individuals in the sample group. This study was conducted during the month of April 2004.