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

The number of student enrolments in computer-related courses remains a serious concern worldwide with far reaching consequences. This paper reports on an extensive survey about career choice and associated motivational factors amongst new students, only some of whom intend to major in computer-related courses, at two South African universities. The data were analyzed using some components of Social Cognitive Career Theory, namely external influences, self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations. The research suggests the need for new strategies for marketing computer-related courses and the avenues through which they are marketed. This can to some extent be achieved by studying strategies used by other (non-computer) university courses, and their professional bodies. However, there are also distinct differences, related to self-efficacy and career outcomes, between the computer majors and the 'other' group and these need to be explored further in order to find strategies that work well for this group. It is not entirely clear what the underlying reasons are for these differences but it is noteworthy that the perceived importance of "Interest in the career field" when choosing a career remains very high for both groups of students.