Cultural capital and gender differences in parental involvement in children's schooling and higher education choice in China

Research shows that college students choose majors for a variety of reasons. Some students are motivated by potential economic returns, others want to take engaging classes, and others still would like opportunities to help people in their jobs. But how do these preferences map onto students’ actual major choices? This question is particularly intriguing in light of gender differences in fields of study, as men and women may take divergent pathways in pursuit of the same outcome. Using data from the Pathways through College Study (N = 2,639), I show that men and women choose very different majors even when they cite the same major preferences—what I call gendered logics of major choice. In addition, I use earnings data from the American Community Survey to assess how these gendered logics of major choice may be associated with broader patterns of earnings inequality. I find that among men and women who have the same major preferences, men’s major choices are tied to significantly higher prospective earnings than women’s major choices. This finding demonstrates that the ways men and women translate their preferences into majors are unequal from an earnings perspective. Implications for research on higher education and gender are discussed.

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Higher education and challenging work: Open admissions and ethnic and gender differences in job complexity

Sociological Forum ◽

10.1007/bf01125042 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 239-260 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

David Hyllegard ◽

David E. Lavin

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Gender Differences ◽

Job Complexity ◽

Open Admissions ◽

And Gender

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Cross-National Comparisons between Canadian and US Higher Education Students on a New, Brief, Multidimensional Measure of Test Anxiety

Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment ◽

10.1177/07342829211016933 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 073428292110169

Author(s):

Patricia A. Lowe

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Gender Differences ◽

Test Anxiety ◽

Short Form ◽

Education Students ◽

Score Interpretation ◽

Canadian Higher Education ◽

External Relations ◽

And Gender ◽

Cross National

Cross-cultural equivalence, country and gender differences, and external relations with other measures were examined on a new, brief measure of test anxiety, the Test Anxiety Measure for College Students-Short Form (TAMC-SF), in a sample of Canadian and US higher education students. The sample of 1204 students completed the TAMC-SF and other measures online. The results of tests of invariance found support for partial scalar invariance across country and gender on the TAMC-SF. In addition, results of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and analysis of variances (ANOVAs) found country and gender differences on the TAMC-SF scales. Furthermore, validity evidence for the TAMC-SF scores with the scores of external measures was found. Overall, the findings support the use of the same test score interpretation for Canadian and US higher education students on the TAMC-SF and the use of the TAMC-SF in Canadian higher education students.

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