Motivations of College Major Choices Based on Gender

Many studies have analyzed the effects gender might have on different aspects of everyday life (e.g., Gayles & Ampaw, 2014; York, 2008). The current study adds to the current body of literature by focusing on gender differences found in college major choices. Specifically we asked the following research questions: What motivates students to select a college major? Are there gender differences between the reasons college students select a major? To address these questions, we recruited students from introductory psychology, abnormal psychology, and upper-level sociology courses at a small, public university located in southwest Georgia. Participants were given an in-class survey with Likert-scale questions (one being unimportant and five being extremely important) to determine the importance of each possible reason for choosing their current major. This study found women were more likely to choose their major based on the idea of helping others, t(155) = -3.898, p = .026, and enjoyment of reading and writing, t(155) = -1.144, p = .034, than men. Men did not have any reasons for choosing their major that were significantly higher than women. These findings inform post-secondary educators about the factors that influence college major choices