Culture and the gender gap in choice of major: An analysis using sibling comparisons

We study if there is an association between culture on gender roles and the gender gap in choice of major. For this purpose, we use the epidemiological approach and sibling comparisons. We find that the gender gap in STEM is smaller for individuals who originate in countries where women are more lik...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of economic behavior & organization Vol. 201; pp. 346 - 373
Main Authors Aldén, Lina, Neuman, Emma
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 01.09.2022
Subjects
Choice of major
Culture
Economics
Gender gap
Nationalekonomi
Second-generation immigrants
Sibling-fixed effects
STEM
Sibling-fixed effects
Second-generation immigrants
Gender gap
I24
Choice of major
J24
Culture
J16
STEM
J15
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Summary:We study if there is an association between culture on gender roles and the gender gap in choice of major. For this purpose, we use the epidemiological approach and sibling comparisons. We find that the gender gap in STEM is smaller for individuals who originate in countries where women are more likely, relative to men, to major in STEM. We observe a similar pattern when we study the probability to major in a male- or female-dominated field. We present suggestive evidence that cultural beliefs explain our results. Thus, to limit gender segregation in education this study points to the importance of changing gendered beliefs about educational choices. However, the results indicate that the gender convergence in STEM and male-dominated fields is driven by the fact that men, not women, choose less gender-typical majors. This suggests that to increase women's participation in STEM and male-dominated fields, policies in other areas, e.g., directed towards changing workplace characteristics, may also be necessary.
ISSN:0167-2681
1879-1751
1879-1751
DOI:10.1016/j.jebo.2022.07.026