Family Socioeconomic Status and College Major Choice: Evidence from China

• In Event: 2484 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 15. Parents and Families in Education

Abstract

The vertical stratification of higher education has been reduced due to years of expansion of college education, and thus horizontal stratification of higher education may become increasingly patent. However, horizontal social stratification is seldom explored in the developing societies, and thus this research aims to fill this gap by analyzing a very important aspect of horizontal stratification of higher education, that is, college major choice. By analyzing sample data from the Beijing College Students Panel Survey (BCSPS) conducted in 2009, this research examines the impact of family socioeconomic status on college major choice, and its impact within different groups, females versus males, rural versus urban, elite college versus non-elite colleges in China. It finds that higher SES families are more likely to choose either most lucrative majors or majors associated with higher culture in order to effectively maintain their advantage while lower SES families tend to choose relatively high-rewarding and relatively low-risk majors in order to avoid potential risks and maximize the returns of their limited resources. In addition, rural and urban segregation and gender segregation in college major choice persists, and college selectivity also impacts students’ choices of majors. The findings contribute to the understanding of direct relationship between family socioeconomic status and college major choice, and also contribute to the understanding the horizontal stratification in the Chinese context.

Author

• Yapeng Wang, University of Virginia