A Preliminary Study on Gender Differences in Studying Systems Analysis and Design

Fion S.L Lee,Kelvin C.K Wong

doi:10.13189/ujer.2017.050321

Abstract

Systems analysis and design is a crucial task in system development and is included in a typical information systems programme as a core course. This paper presented a preliminary study on gender differences in studying a systems analysis and design course of an undergraduate programme. Results indicated that male students outperformed female students in general in this course. However, regarding the different study focuses of the course, female students performed better in information systems development methodologies and systems analysis, whereas male students worked better in systems design. Discussions have been raised to explain the findings and it was suggested longitudinal studies could be conducted for a more generalized conclusion.

Highlights

Systems analysis and design are the complex and challenging activities that take place in information systems development
With the aim of preparing students majoring information systems for employment, the IS 2010 Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Programs in Information Systems developed by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Association for Information Systems (AIS) identified the systems analysis and design course as a core in an IS undergraduate curriculum [1,2]
Other than game-based learning (GBL), many researchers investigated the use of other means such as cross-disciplinary project groups [7], service learning projects [8] and activity diagrams [9] to improve student learning

Summary

Introduction

Systems analysis and design are the complex and challenging activities that take place in information systems development. Some studies have addressed gender differences related to information systems. [12] explored the gender differences in performance in the Accounting Information Systems course. They focused on assessing the students’ IT skills rather than the systems analysis and design skills. Though a substantial body of information systems research exists, studies examining the effect of gender on the student performance in systems analysis and design courses are still rare. This study aims to investigate the gender differences in learning information system development methodologies, systems analysis and systems design

The Study

Results and Discussion

Conclusions