Riegle-Crumb, Catherine, King, Barbara, & Moore, Chelsea
Researchers: Barbara KingCatherine Riegle-CrumbChelsea Moore
University Affiliation: University of Texas at Austin; Florida International University; University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Email: riegle@austin.utexas.edu
Research Question:
The authors explore whether women who enter fields that are male-dominated are more likely to switch fields than their female peers who have chosen other fields, as well as whether men who enter female-dominated majors are more likely to subsequently switch fields than their male peers who have chosen a more normative field.
Published: Yes
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Sex Roles
Journal Entry: Vol. 74, No. 9, Pp. 436-449
Year: 2016
Findings:
- Men who enter a female-dominated major are significantly more likely to switch majors than their male peers in other majors. By contrast, women in male-dominated fields are not more likely to switch fields compared to their female peers in other fields.
- It’s important to note that a smaller percentage of women enter male-dominated college majors than the reverse, perhaps indicating that the processes that deter women from considering gender-atypical fields occur more powerfully at earlier ages.
- Male students with families that have more education and more income were significantly less likely to declare a female-dominated major; however for women there was a positive and statistically significant correlation between parent education and entering a male-dominated major.
- Women with higher SAT scores were actually more likely to enter a field dominated by the other gender.
- When looking at overall switching patterns, among men, compared to the non-Hispanic White students, Black students had statistically significantly higher switching rates. Among women, Hispanic students had significantly higher switching rates than non-Hispanic White students. Regarding family social class background, among male students only, switchers came from families with significantly lower education and income levels.
- It is likely that men who enter female-dominated majors must face negative social sanctions from their peers, particularly other men, and that adult mentors and family members may encourage them to switch to fields with more status and income by telling them that they can do better.
- Perhaps the jobs linked to male-dominated majors have relatively higher labor market returns, women in these majors have an additional incentive to stay even in the midst of the many obstacles.