Provisional Major Identities, Self-Concept, and Social Ties: The Social Process of Choosing a College Major

• In Event: 3429 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 12. Higher Education: Majors and Academic Identities

Abstract

This paper analyzes the social process by which college students link their self-concept to their aspired field of study, their college major. We know that part of the process of choosing a college major involves students deciding their skills, future aspirations, interests, and broader sense of self—collectively referred to as self-concept—and deciding what major best fits these traits. However, the social psychological process by which students make this decision is not sufficiently understood. I analyze three waves of longitudinal in-depth interviews with 50 first-year college students at an elite public university using a highly diverse sample by gender, race, and social class. I examine their major decision-making process before college and how that changes as they undergo first-year college experiences. I find that most students seek to avoid the anticipated stigma associated with being undecided. Therefore, they go beyond simply linking their self-concept to their major aspiration and instead create provisional major identities. In trying to create their self-concept and link it to a particular field of study, they struggle with limited and often incorrect information. Interactions with other people—both teachers and peers—are critical in shaping the provisional major identities students construct prior to entering college, relying on others for a sense of what each possible major means and if they have the necessary skills and aspirations to successfully achieve it. Given that the information from others about students’ self-concepts and major-concepts is inherently subjective and incomplete (and possibly incorrect), students’ decisions about their major are shaped, at least in part, by the social network in which they are immersed. These finding partly explain why so many students end up in ill-fitting majors and other negative outcomes related to the college major decisions, and why these outcomes are especially likely for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Author

• Alanna Gillis, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill