Literature Review #4

Generation Me: Influences of Students' Choice of Major

Citation: George-Jackson, C.E. (2012). Generation Me: Influences of  Students’ Choice of Major. Project STEP-UP. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Summary: This article written by Casey George-Jackson summarizes a study that was conducted in 2010. In the study, George-Jackson surveyed over 1800 undergraduate students in nine large public universities asking them to identify who influenced their college major decisions the most. The article provides the results with data to back up her findings.

Author: Casey George-Jackson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Evaluation and Organizational Development at the University of Louisville. Her research examines factors impacting participation in the STEM fields, including students’ initial choice of major. She also investigates postsecondary financial awareness and readiness, including the impact of differential tuition policies on underrepresented students and their families.

Key Terms:

major differences by gender - how gender influences a student's choice of major

major differences by race - how race influences a student's choice of major

major difference by class - how class status ( i.e. Freshman) influences a student's choice of major.

Quotes:

"While parents may most influence the decision to attend college, students' choice of major can be influenced by a number of factors, and most prominently by students' own interests and attitudes towards fields of study."(Page 4)

"Of those who answered Myself... 56.6% were female, 42.2% were male and 1.2% did not specify their gender." (Page 3)

"First major: my parents, current major : myself" (Page 4)

Value: 

This article will provide me with important data to build my case. This study shows that parents and a student's own interests play the most important role in deciding a student's college major. The study was done as recently as 2010