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Recent research suggests that programs dedicated to information systems (e.g. IS/CIS/IT) need to be aligned with market needs in order to prepare students (seen as future employees) for the jobs they will be filling upon their graduation (Joshi et al., 2010a, 2010b; Litecky et al., 2012). The need for well-educated professionals in the field is the basis for a strong link between educational programs and the professional community of information system (IS) practitioners (Abraham et al., 2006). The management information system (MIS) field is undergoing radical changes. In the past, its main role consisted of developing information systems and then changed to delivering IT support. However, nowadays these roles have shifted toward a service role and supporting organizational business processes through outsourcing and buying ready-made software packages.
In the past IS employees’ satisfaction was a prominent topic in IS research, focusing on different issues including turnover of IS professionals (Moore, 2000; Joseph et al., 2007; McKnight et al., 2009; Chang 2010) and skills of MIS jobs (Cheney et al., 1990; Trauth et al., 1993; Lee et al., 1995; Todd et al., 1995; Gallivan et al., 2004; Yen et al., 2003; Wu et al., 2007). However, and to our knowledge, fewer studies focus on fresh MIS graduates’ continuous intention as opposed to their turnover. This raises the issue of whether MIS graduates are ready to fill in these new roles and therefore motivate this study toward understanding the factors that affect graduates’ continuous stay in the MIS field since their retention is a key concern within IT organizations today (McMurtrey et al., 2008).