A Preliminary Study on Gender Differences in Studying Systems Analysis and Design

Systems analysis and design is a crucial task in system development and is included in a typical information systems programme as a core course. This paper presented a preliminary study on gender differences in studying a systems analysis and design course of an undergraduate programme. Results indicated that male students outperformed female students in general in this course. However, regarding the different study focuses of the course, female students performed better in information systems development methodologies and systems analysis, whereas male students worked better in systems design. Discussions have been raised to explain the findings and it was suggested longitudinal studies could be conducted for a more generalized conclusion.