Undergraduate Women: Who Chooses a Science Major?

Abstract

Despite the gains of recent years, women continue to be underrepresented in scientific fields at every educational level. In 1981, only 27 percent of the nation's bachelor's degrees in science and mathematics were awarded to women. The gap widens at higher educational levels; in the same year only 17 percent of all science and mathematics doctorates went to women. At the same time, labor force statistics show that in 1980 women represented 13 percent of the nation's physical scientists, 19 percent of its mathematicians, 22 percent of all computer specialists, 22 percent of the life scientists, and only 2 percent of the country's engineers [22]. By identifying factors that appear to facilitate the choice of a science major for a particular group of women college students, this article addresses the larger question of why women undergraduates who enter college intending to major in science abandon their plans before a major is actually declared. It is based on data from a recent longitudinal study of concentration choice among undergraduates in a large university setting. Among the explanations offered to account for existing discrepancies in the numbers of men and women who choose to pursue science and mathematics are the following: sex-linked differences in inherent ability