Achieving Alignment Between IS Research and IS Curriculum: Toward Stronger IS Discipline Identity

The IS discipline identity discourse has traditionally been focused on the IS research. With considerable effort devoted to the IS curriculum development, it has not been seriously considered in the discussions on the IS identity. Here we argue that IS students and their recruiters, along with IS faculty, are key internal stakeholders of the IS discipline. As such they are engaged in the process of co-creating the IS discipline teaching identity through IS curriculum creation and consumption. We propose that a stronger identity of the IS academic discipline can be achieved through alignment between three elements: IS research, IS curriculum, and the needs of IS practitioners. We examine the degree of alignment between IS curriculum standards and key IS research subareas identified in extant research, and point out directions for future research and curriculum development.