Observing Gendered Patterns of Major Selection under Elective Curriculums

Article abstract: Social
scientists have long recognized field of study as an important mechanism of
gender differentiation and stratification in U.S. higher education, but they
have rarely attended to how elective curriculums mediate gender differentiation
in major selection. Under elective
curriculums, major selection is an iterative process, in which students select
courses in stepwise fashion at the beginning of each academic term, and are able
to change majors early in their
undergraduate careers. We observe how an elective curriculum mediates gendered
patterns of major selection, using a novel data set describing 11,730 students
at a large public research university. We find (a) gender and intended major
are strongly correlated upon college entry; (b) large proportions of students
change majors between entry and declaration; (c) because most changes are to
academically adjacent fields, gendered patterns in field of study persist
through the undergraduate career. Findings suggest the value of an iterative
conception of major selection and offer tractable means for intervening in the
process through which students select majors.