FIELD OF STUDY CHOICES OF YOUNG FEMALE POSTSECONDARY STUDENTS IN FOUR YEAR INSTITUTIONS
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze changes in the field of study choices of young women and to suggest the potential implications of these decisions for federal, state, and institutional policies. The research specifically examines potential causes and consequences of trends in enrollments in traditionally female fields of study, such as home economics and education. Following the human capital approach advanced in the economics literature, the field of study choice is viewed as a household investment decision, in which the student attempts to maximize future income and non-money returns relative to current tuition and time costs. In this paper, the field of study choices of young women are presumed to interact with other life cycle choices, such as expected labor force participation, expected fertility, and expected marriage. This approach explicitly recognizes potentially important non-money returns to training in home economics or in education fields. Through multivariate regression analysis the following major findings emerge. (1) Young women who plan to have more than one child are more likely to choose a female-dominated field of study. (2) Young women who lack math skills find it difficult to enter male-dominated fields. (3) Young white women perceive discrimination in male-dominated fields. This discrimination lowers their expected returns and as a result, these young women are less likely to enter male-dominated fields at any point in their schooling.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Higher education
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