Literature Review #3

College Major Choice: An Analysis of Personal-Environment Fit




Citation: 
Porter, Stephen R., and Paul D. Umbach. "College Major Choice: An Analysis of Person-Environment Fit." Research in Higher Education 2006: 429. JSTOR Journals. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.


Summary:

The article was published in 2006 in the journal, Research in Higher Education. In the article, Stephen Porter and Paul Umbach describe the results of their study. Porter and Umbach surveyed freshman year college students at a selective liberal arts college in order to gain insight into their choice of major. The researchers apply Holland's Theory of Careers to their results in order to explain why students choose particular pathways. Holland developed six models he calls "environments" that people fit into when choosing a career. These models can be used a foundation for developing similar "environments" that college students choose.

Authors:

Both Paul Umbach and Stephen Porter are professors of Higher Education in the Department of Leadership, Policy and Adult & Higher Education at North Carolina State University, where they teach courses in educational statistics. Both men are also principals at Percontor, an educational research and consulting firm.

Key Terms:

Holland's Theory of Careers - human behavior is a result of the interaction between individuals and their environments.

Environments - six models developed by Holland that can be translated into a typology for academic disciplines—realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional

Quotes:

"Holland’s theory and the notion of student–environment fit may be a useful lens through which to study racial and gender differences in student major choice." (433)

"Because parents’ income, father’s education and mother’s education are highly correlated, we constructed a socio-economic status factor .... Social capital and cultural capital, largely represented by parental influence, have a significant impact on major choice."(434)

"We find that political views and the Holland personality scales are very strong predictors of student major choice."(444)

Value:

This scholarly article is perhaps my most useful resource. I plan to use this study as a foundation for my paper, particularly Holland's Theory of Careers. I hope to create major environments of my own that expand on Porter and Umbach's findings.