Supply/demand of IS doctorates in the 1990s

ABSTRACT

The field of information systems (IS) has experienced a severe shortage of faculty throughout its 20-year history. This shortage now appears to be lessening. A survey of the supply of IS doctorates finds a steady stream of graduates from IS doctoral programs. In 1989, 61 universities in the U.S. offered Ph.D. or Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.) concentrations in information systems. A survey of these programs resulted in 51 responses, including all the programs producing significant numbers of graduates. The following are highlights from the survey: Recent increase in the number of IS doctoral students: In 1988-89 there were 807 doctoral students enrolled in 51 doctoral programs in information systems. The programs admitted 217 new students for 1989-90. In the 1988-89 time period, 36 programs produced 120 doctorates—a 24 percent increase in graduates from the previous year. In the 1989-90 time period, 41 programs expect to graduate a total of 140 students—a 2-year cumulative increase of 44 percent: Downsizing by some programs, but others—including new programs—adding to capacity. In 1988-89, there were 13 programs that produced three or more doctorates. Those 13 programs accounted for 70 percent of all the graduates in 1988-89. In 1989-90, those same 13 programs expect to account for only 39 percent of the total number of graduates. Of the 13 programs, 5 except to have a decrease in the number of students over the next five years. Of 51 schools, 9 offering doctorates in IS have yet to graduate a student. Another 9 schools had their first graduate in 1985 or later. Several additional doctoral programs are in the planning stages. Twenty-three programs expect a growth in the number of students over the next five years. In this article, we examine the supply and demand gap

REFERENCES

• 1: American Asaemhly of' C,olgaite Schools of Business. Faculty positions filled, vacant, and planned growth, 1989-90. AACSB Newsline (April 1990), 3.
• 2: American Assembly ot k;ollegiate Schools of Business. MBA numbers holding steady, as Ph.D.'s make significant gains and BBA's continue to climb. AACSB Newsline (June/ August 1989), 5.
• 3: crum, w.f. and garner, D.E. 1983 Survey of Doctoral Pro_grams in Accounting in the United States and canada, the accounting reveiw 60, 3 (July 1985), 519-525.
• 4: DeGross, J.l. Davis, G.B., and AJanis .m, 1989 directory of mis feculty in the United States and Canada. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 1989.
• 5: DeGross, j.l., Davis, G.B., and Alanis, M. 1986 Directory of MIS Faculty in the United States and Canada. McGraw-H,i!! Publishing Co_m_pa_n_y, 1986.
• 6: David Gries, The 1984-1985 Taulbee survey, Communications of the ACM, v.29 n.10, p.972-977, Oct. 1986 [doi>10.1145/6617.6631]
• 7: D. Gries , D. Marsh, The 1987-88 Taulbee Survey Report, Computer, v.22 n.11, p.49-56, November 1989 [doi>10.1109/2.43526]
• 8: Gupta, J.N.D. and Seeborg, I.S. The graduate MIS course in the acILuu,a anu cunegcs of ousnLess. . Manage. Inf. Syst. 5, 4 (Spring 1989), 125-136.
• 9: Lossett, R.D. and moustafa, m. the nature of the demand for doctorates in accounting. Accounting Rev. 50, 4 (october 1975), 874-881.
• 10: University ,ffcalgary. mis interrupt. The Faculty of Management, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2_N !N4,6
• 11: U.S. Department of Commerce. Projections of the population of the united states, by age, sex, and race; 1988-2080. Series P-25, No. 1018, 1989.
• 12: U.5. Department of Education. Digest of Education Statistics.' 1989. National Center for Education Statistics, December i989.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.2 Computer and Information Science Education
          Subjects: Information systems education

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.7 THE COMPUTING PROFESSION

General Terms:
Management