Perceptions of malaysian female school children towards higher education in information technology

Abstract

Malaysia, like many countries, faces a shortage of students enrolling in computing undergraduate programs. This paper investigates the impact of technology on female secondary school children's choice of studying information technology (IT) in higher education. Malaysian female secondary school students from various ethnicities participated in a proprietary survey conducted in various cities in both East and West Malaysia. Despite the lack of technological support provided by government funded schools in terms of functioning computers and access to computers, there is a strong and encouraging trend in the respondents' interests in wishing to learn more about IT and their intentions to study an IT-related undergraduate degree. The respondents' perceptions on careers in IT are largely positive -- unlike the generally held belief that there are not many available jobs in the industry, and IT is a male-dominated field, difficult and boring. This is the first known Malaysian study that focuses on the perceptions of female indigenous school students towards higher education and careers in IT.