Gender Beliefs and College Major Choice: Longitudinal Evidence from Students and Parents in Taiwan

• In Event: 087 - Regular Session. Education and Gender: Gendered STEM Education

Abstract

The low proportion of women in science and engineering fields is a remarkable example of the “stalled” gender revolution, but the reason why men outnumber women in these fields remains controversial. Inspired by Ridgeway’s theory of cultural beliefs about gender, this paper examines whether and which gender beliefs can explain the sex segregation of college majors. (1) Drawing on a nationally representative survey of Taiwanese high school students, we show that hegemonic beliefs (men are more suitable for natural science than women) held by students and their parents can fully explain the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors among those who enrolled in universities (N = 2,789). (2) Consistent with Ridgeway’s theoretical prediction, women are more responsive than men to their own and especially their parents’ hegemonic beliefs. (3) In contrast to the performance expectations hypothesis, biased math self-assessment hardly accounts for the gender gap in Taiwan. (4) Contrary to those enrolled in universities, gender beliefs do not seem to explain any of the gender gap in STEM majors among those who enrolled in junior colleges (N = 507).

Authors

• Tony Tam, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Academia Sinica

• Koit Hung, Chinese University of Hong Kong