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Gender, academic abilities and postsecondary educational choices

Gender, academic abilities and postsecondary educational choices Gender inequalities in higher education have attracted interest in the academic literature. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe author uses standardized high school final exam results and probit regression analysis to contribute to this highly important discussion.FindingsBased on secondary, non-survey data, female students tend to outperform males in subjects requiring creativity. Consistent with this comparative advantage, female students also tend to be more affected by their abilities in choosing and preferring the related field of humanities as a higher education. In line with female students’ choices, the results presented in the paper confirm that men are more inclined toward exact and natural sciences, even though they do not prove to have stronger abilities in related subjects. In addition, men are also more influenced by their abilities in obtaining a professional higher education. The choice of social sciences is quite similarly affected by the academic abilities of men and women. The paper also provides evidence that, on average, individuals choose their field of study according to their academic abilities.Originality/valueFor evidence, a data set that makes it possible to relate quantitative measures of very different academic abilities to all major academic disciplines is used in the paper. This unique approach has so far been lacking in the literature due to data limitations. In other words, instead of concentrating on a specific area, such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the author takes a broader view. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education Emerald Publishing

Gender, academic abilities and postsecondary educational choices

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References (47)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2050-7003
DOI
10.1108/jarhe-12-2017-0155
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Gender inequalities in higher education have attracted interest in the academic literature. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe author uses standardized high school final exam results and probit regression analysis to contribute to this highly important discussion.FindingsBased on secondary, non-survey data, female students tend to outperform males in subjects requiring creativity. Consistent with this comparative advantage, female students also tend to be more affected by their abilities in choosing and preferring the related field of humanities as a higher education. In line with female students’ choices, the results presented in the paper confirm that men are more inclined toward exact and natural sciences, even though they do not prove to have stronger abilities in related subjects. In addition, men are also more influenced by their abilities in obtaining a professional higher education. The choice of social sciences is quite similarly affected by the academic abilities of men and women. The paper also provides evidence that, on average, individuals choose their field of study according to their academic abilities.Originality/valueFor evidence, a data set that makes it possible to relate quantitative measures of very different academic abilities to all major academic disciplines is used in the paper. This unique approach has so far been lacking in the literature due to data limitations. In other words, instead of concentrating on a specific area, such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the author takes a broader view.

Journal

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jun 19, 2018

Keywords: Higher education; Field of study; Gender gap; Academic abilities; High school

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