Farmer School of Business seniors Rachel Frame and Sydney Powell were invited to present the research paper they co-authored with Dr. Jeff Merhout, associate professor of information systems and analytics,  at the prestigious Undergraduate Conference in Information Systems hosted by Carnegie Mellon University. This research was completed to meet the University Honors Undergraduate Research Forum requirements for Frame and Powell.

Their paper, “Understanding the lack of women in IT/IS,” tackled an issue close to their hearts, and important to both educators and employers. Their research examined the impact that stereotypical gender roles and exposure to the information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) fields can have on both male and female perspectives towards the IT/IS field. Results of their survey indicated that females are either less experienced in, less exposed to, or less knowledgeable than males about IT/IS, which likely leads them to be less interested in and therefore lack a presence in IT/IS fields.

Their research, writing and presenting skills garnered them the Top Paper Award at the conference. “I am very proud of the outstanding research and write-up that Rachel and Sydney completed under my guidance. This work truly makes a contribution to our understanding of why Miami students do or do not choose IS as a major,” noted Merhout.

Written by Addie Rosenthal, Senior Director of Communications, Farmer School of Business, Miami University.  Originally appeared on the Farmer School of Business website.

Photographs by Miami University Communications & Marketing.