A Directed Network of College Major “Choice” Over Time

• In Event: 1260 - The Many Pathways to STEM

Abstract

Research has shown that college major choice has strong implications for career prospects, contributes to the wage gap among college-educated men and women, and is a gendered and racialized process (Brown and Corcoran 1997; Shauman 2006; Seymour and Hewitt 1997). Today, major choice discrepancies are found among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. Ma and Liu (2017) found that women, Latinx, and Black students are most under-represented in physical-STEM fields (i.e., computer, math, physical science, and engineering) in comparison to life-STEM (i.e., agriculture, biology, and life-science related). Despite these implications and patterns, little is known about the actual mechanisms or factors that lead to this pattern of choice. While both individual-level factors and social context are critical in analyzing college major choice, minimal research has taken the role on how social networks shape student’s major choice over time. Using complete longitudinal data (i.e., 5-years) from a public university from the University of California, in this study I examined major choice over time (i.e., entering major choice, changes in major, and final major choice) and illustrate this process in a directed network for different race/ethnic and gender groups (e.g., Latinx males, Black females, etc.).

Author

• Paul Martinez, University of California, Los Angeles