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      From Major Preferences to Major Choices: Gender and Logics of Major Choice

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      Sociology of Education
      SAGE Publications

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          Abstract

          Research shows that college students choose majors for a variety of reasons. Some students are motivated by potential economic returns, others want to take engaging classes, and others still would like opportunities to help people in their jobs. But how do these preferences map onto students’ actual major choices? This question is particularly intriguing in light of gender differences in fields of study, as men and women may take divergent pathways in pursuit of the same outcome. Using data from the Pathways through College Study (N = 2,639), I show that men and women choose very different majors even when they cite the same major preferences—what I call gendered logics of major choice. In addition, I use earnings data from the American Community Survey to assess how these gendered logics of major choice may be associated with broader patterns of earnings inequality. I find that among men and women who have the same major preferences, men’s major choices are tied to significantly higher prospective earnings than women’s major choices. This finding demonstrates that the ways men and women translate their preferences into majors are unequal from an earnings perspective. Implications for research on higher education and gender are discussed.

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          Most cited references36

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          Gender and the Career Choice Process: The Role of Biased Self‐Assessments

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            Indulging Our Gendered Selves? Sex Segregation by Field of Study in 44 Countries

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              Paying for the Party

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Sociology of Education
                Sociol Educ
                SAGE Publications
                0038-0407
                1939-8573
                November 09 2019
                : 003804071988797
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
                Article
                10.1177/0038040719887971
                2fca7a5a-62ec-4ac1-92e9-9e4b2c123d19
                © 2019

                http://www.sagepub.com/licence-information-for-chorus

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