Australian Undergraduate Information Systems Curricula: A Comparative Study

The paper describes the first comprehensive comparative study of Undergraduate (UG) Information Systems (IS) degree programs in Australia using the model curricula outlined in ACM/AIS IS2010 as a reference point. The study had three broad aims: (1) to compare the Australian IS curriculum with that of other major IS education systems internationally, (2) to identify what subject areas are considered mandatory and what are considered optional in Australian IS programs, and (3) to understand if the host academic division within different disciplines (e.g. Business or Science/Engineering/Information Technology) have an influence on the variations in the degrees. In a first phase, 2017 IS program data was obtained from university websites. In a second phase, this data was validated in consultation with academic staff from those universities offering the programs. The conclusion is that a high level of adherence to the IS2010 curricula was evident in core courses; considerable diversity was found in a long tail of non-core offerings; and the location of the host academic unit within Business or Science/Engineering/Technology influenced the subject areas offered.