Influencing Adolescent's Career Choices: Parent's Perceptions of Information System

The demand for professionals in Information Systems and those with related skills continues to increase. Training a qualified workforce to meet this demand and raising awareness of the field of IS remains a challenge. Initiatives such as virtual scavenger hunts, hack-a-thon challenges, and technology camps aim to help adolescents gain a better understanding of themselves and their career interests, recognize how education prepares them for future professions, and ultimately increase the number of those interested in STEM-related fields (science, technology, engineering, and math). Career development theories explain how career choices are made and highlight the importance of parents' influence on their child's career decisions. The purpose of the research paper is to explore parental perceptions of middle school children’s career aspirations and answer the research question, “How do parents perceive Information Systems as a career choice for their child?” Answering this question may reveal how to more effectively market Information Systems and related fields to increase the number of skilled professionals and meet labor market demands as well as contribute to theories of career decision-making