Monday, October 31, 2016

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



Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Literature Review #3

College Major Choice: An Analysis of Personal-Environment Fit

Image result for research in higher education


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.







Research Blog #5: Working Bibliography

Working Bibliography:
George-Jackson, C.E. (2012). Generation Me: Influences of  Students’ Choice of Major. Project STEP-UP. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kinsler, J. ( 1 ), and R. ( 2 ) Pavan. "The Specificity Of General Human Capital: Evidence From College Major Choice." Journal Of Labor Economics 33.4 (2015): 933-972. Scopus®. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Kuz’mina, Iu.V. "The Direct And Indirect Effect Of Family Factors On The Choice Of A College Major."Russian Education & Society 56.12 (2014): 53-68. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
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. 24 Oct. 2016.
Shen, F.C. "The Role Of Internalized Stereotyping, Parental Pressure, And Parental Support On Asian Americans' Choice Of College Major." Journal Of Multicultural Counseling And Development 43.1 (2015): 58-73. Scopus®. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
Twenge, Jean M. Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable than Ever before. New York: Free, 2006. Print.
Workman, Jamie L. "Parental Influence On Exploratory Students' College Choice, Major, And Career Decision Making." College Student Journal 49.1 (2015): 23-30. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

Research Proposal

Working Title: What Does Your Major Say About You?
Topic:
The topic that I am proposing research on is the effect that a college student’s background and personality have on their choice of major. I hope to find specific patterns, based on both external and internal factors, of students in certain majors that create major molds. The paper will mainly focus on more recent generations of college students.

Research Question:
How is a college student’s decision in choosing a major influenced by external forces and how is it influenced by internal forces? Do most students in a particular major fit the mold?

Theoretical Frame:
There have been a number of theories over the years that seek to explain the choices that college students make. In particular,  Holland’s Theory of Careers has been applied to a college student’s choice of major in several recent studies. The article, COLLEGE MAJOR CHOICE: An Analysis of Person–Environment Fit, explains that “The basic premise of Holland’s theory is that human behavior is a result of the interaction between individuals and their environments. Applying Holland’s theory, Smart, Feldman, and Ethington suggest that students choose academic environments compatible with their personality types’’(Porter and Umbach  432) Holland’s Theory establishes six environments that “can be translated into a typology for academic disciplines”. (Porter and Umbach 432) Using the environments created by Holland as a foundation my paper will establish major molds that can be applied to students from recent generations to explain why they choose a particular major.  
While tuition costs continue to skyrocket due to the privatization of higher education, one would imagine that class background and economic status would contribute more to a student’s choice of study. Students can no longer afford to sacrifice practicality for passion. On the other hand, it may be more likely that the Me Generation follows their own interest in choosing a major, regardless of the economic consequences.  

Research and Plan:
The article, Generation Me: Influences of Students’ choice of major, written by Casey George-Jackson, documents a study done in 2010 in nine large public universities. In this study George-Jackson asked several students who was their biggest influence in choosing a major. The students were given a list of choices which included: guidance counselor, parents, peers, high school teacher, minister, family/friends, or other. Out of 1,867 different responses, by far the top two responses were “myself” (around 25%) and “my parents”(around 20%). The study goes on to break these two categories down by race and gender, giving great insight into how different cultures result in different major decisions.
A student’s choice of major is strongly influenced by family characteristics. The article, The Direct and Indirect Effect of Family Factors on the Choice of a College Major,  discusses research done on Russian college students that shows how much of a student’s choice of major is determined by their family’s economic resources and how much is a result of cultural factors. Research shows that in most cases parents have one of the heaviest impacts on a student decision making. In a more broad sense, certain cultures place a higher value on specific career choices creating a sense of major stereotypes.
Internally, each individual has a unique set of interests that will have some impact on their choice of major. In her book, Generation Me, Jeane M. Twenge explores the personality traits of the younger generation. Twenge argues that this generation is not only confident, tolerant, and open-minded, but also narcissistic and anxious. The “Entitlement Generation” that Twenge is referring to consists of people born in the 1980’s and 1990’s. These self-centered individuals make up typical current college students and recent graduates. My thought is that self-absorbed students are more likely to follow their own internal interests in choosing a major, rather than external forces.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Literature Review # 2

Front CoverGeneration Me: How Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled, -- And More Miserable Than Ever





Citation: Twenge, Jean M. Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable than Ever before. New York: Free, 2006. Print.

Summary:  Jean Twenge explores why people born in the 80's and 90's are "tolerant, confident, open-minded, and ambitious but also disengaged, narcissistic, distrustful, and anxious". This "Generation Me" is reshaping colleges. Twenge uses the latest research, data, and statistics, to show how American character has shifted towards individualism.

About the Author:  Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University and the author of more than 110 scientific journal articles and book chapters. She received a BA in sociology and psychology and an MA in social sciences from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in personality psychology from the University of Michigan. 

Key Terms:

Entitlement Generation

self-esteem

societal-expectations

Quotes:

"Generation Me has grown up thinking that it is more important to "do your own thing" than conform to the group.

"GenMe believes that people should follow their dreams and not be held back by societal expectations.."

 "Work should provide a rich and fulfilling experience as well as make me rich. Of course, this often clashes with reality." 

Value:

Jean Twenges findings will help me to determine "internal forces" that are affecting today's college students on a broad scale. In other words, how has the shift in "personality" of this generation impacted how students treat college (particularly their studies). I hope to find out how a shift toward selfish individualism has influenced recent trends in major choices. 

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Lit Review post #1

Parental Influence on Exploratory Students' College Choice, Major, and Career Decision Making

Image result for college student journal



MLA Citation:

WORKMAN, JAMIE L. "Parental Influence On Exploratory Students' College Choice, Major, And Career Decision Making." College Student Journal 49.1 (2015): 23-30. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

This article was written by Jamie Workman in 2015 and published in the College Student Journal. Workman examined a first year living learning community and incorporated Schlossberg’s transition theory,  which discusses transition in terms of four S ’s: situation, self, strategies and support, in the context of freshman college students' transition into college. Workman came to the conclusion that parental influence is a key theme in college students' decision making.


About the Author:

Jamie Workman is an assistant professor at the University of Northern Iowa. She has a bachelor's in education, a master's degree in student administration, and a Phd. in Higher Education. Workman also worked as a director of residence life at Miami University.


Key Terms:

Strategies refer to ways in which individuals cope with the transition.

Support refers to people, organizations, or institutions the person turns to for help with the transition


Quotes:

"As mentioned, several of the students saw their parents as being positive influences in their major and career decision making processes. Laura described her family as the: ...most influential people in your life and they’re the ones that you look up to and respect their advice. It’s important that you have those people in your life to weigh things off of and that they’re going to give you a nonbiased opinion."(page 3)

"Some students feel an obligation to pursue the career paths of their parents or other family members, while others are completely disconnected from their family. " (page 7)

"It could be assumed that students who go against their parent wishes regarding major and career exploration would be at higher developmental levels than those who simply choose based on what their parents believe to be best. "

Value: This article provides strong evidence that your family background has a significant influence in your major choice.

Initial Academic Research Bib



1. The Direct and Indirect Effect of Family Factors on the Choice of a College Major

This article is described as Research on Russian students shows that the choice of a major and career is strongly influenced by family characteristics, and that there are both direct and indirect influences. 

The link to the article is below:
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=f8492985-1f40-4dd6-99b1-29d2d4a6f0fc%40sessionmgr106&hid=127

2. The Specificity of General Human Capital: Evidence from College Major Choice,

This article discusses a study done at several prestigious universities that analyzes how a college students major choice relates to there human capital. A main topic in the article that I found both interesting and useful is their discussion of the question "Does your major determine how hard you will work or does how hard you work determine your major?"

The link to the article is below:
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=f8492985-1f40-4dd6-99b1-29d2d4a6f0fc%40sessionmgr106&hid=127

3.  PARENTAL INFLUENCE ON EXPLORATORY STUDENTS’ COLLEGE CHOICE, MAJOR, AND CAREER DECISION MAKING

This article explores parental influence on exploratory students' college choicemajor, and career decision making. The research began with examination of a first year academic advising model and Living Learning Community. This article will be an extremely useful resources in determining how a student's background affects their choice of major. 

The link to the article is below:
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=f8492985-1f40-4dd6-99b1-29d2d4a6f0fc%40sessionmgr106&hid=127

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Scouting the Territory

In my research I have found several studies that sociologists and psychologists have done involving college majors. Based on what I have found, I have decided to focus on two main topics for my paper. The first topic is what does your college major say about your background and the second is what does your college major say about your personality. I am pretty confident that I will be able to find sufficient scientific research (statistics as well as specific case studies) to help me. One of the main reasons I chose these two main topics is because the terms "personality" and "background" led me to several articles on Google. Many people seem to have created "major stereotypes" similar to racial stereotypes. 

Here are a couple of articles that grabbed my attention:

1. How do young people chose a college major:


2. Prediction of College Major by Personality Test: