Month of birth and aspirational career choice: a gender perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the impact of students' month of birth (MOB) on their university career choices. Specifically, we analyze whether the oldest students in their academic cohorts show more aspirational preferences when expressing their first choice of university degree. Using administrative records for students in a large university district and applying a sharp regression discontinuity design, we find that the oldest female students are more likely to express a preference for high-earning, academically selective, and STEM degrees than their youngest peers. The results for STEM are concentrated in degree courses where women are a minority and in the technology and engineering fields. Conversely, we find much smaller or non-significant MOB effects in most cases for male students. Results further indicate that the MOB effect is reinforced in families with high socioeconomic status.