Determinants of Choice of College Major Among Women and Men: Comparisons of Cohorts in the Late 1960s and 1970s (Sex Differences)

The primary purpose of this study is to examine factors related to the choice of college major among young women. The study compares a cohort of women in the late 1970s with one in the late 1960s to explain the dramatic increase in the relative representation of women in nontraditional fields during the 1970s. This study also examines samples of men in the late 1960s and 1970s to analyze sex differences in the determinants of the choice of college major. The data are taken from three of the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) of Labor Market Experience: (1) the NLS of Youth ages 14 to 21 in 1979; (2) the NLS of Young Women ages 14 to 24 in 1968; and (3) the NLS of Young Men ages 14 to 24 in 1966. College major is specified as a function of aspirations for market work and home work and of personal characteristics such as family background, race, and attitudes toward women's roles. The equations are estimated by three statistical methods: (1) ordinary least squares (OLS); (2) multinomial logit maximum likelihood (MLML); and (3) trichotomous (or ordered) logit maximum likelihood (TLML).

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human Resources and Family Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Date dc:date

10000-01-01

Author dc:creator

• Han, Kee-Ok Kim

• Home Economics
• Education, Social Sciences

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8600202

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/71747