Academic Majors Research Articles

Does Exposure to Counterstereotypical Role Models Influence Girls' and Women's Gender Stereotypes and Career Choices? A Review of Social Psychological Research.

Gender roles are formed in early childhood and continue to influence behavior through adolescence and adulthood, including the choice of academic majors and careers. In many countries, men are underrepresented in communal roles in health care, elementary education, and domestic functions (HEED fields, Croft et al., 2015), whereas women are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) fields (Beede et al., 2011) and top leadership positions (Leopold et al., 2016). Theories focusing on the development of gender roles suggest that across the lifespan people perceive certain roles to be more or less appropriate for their gender (e.g., Gender Schema Theory, Martin and Halverson, 1981; Social Role Theory, Eagly and Wood, 2011). Specifically, researchers have postulated that observing same-sex role models triggers learning processes whereby observers internalize gender-stereotypical knowledge of roles and act accordingly, which results in gender-congruent aspirations and behavior. It seems reasonable that if observing men and women in gender congruent roles fosters gender-congruent aspirations and behavior, then frequently observing gender-incongruent role models (e.g., male kindergarten teachers or female scientists and leaders) should reduce gender stereotyping and promote gender-counterstereotypical aspirations and behavior. In many countries, governments and societal decision-makers have formed initiatives based on the idea that exposure to gender-counterstereotypical role models influences aspirations and career choices among children, adolescents, and young adults. The present review gives an overview of research-based interventions involving observing or interacting with counterstereotypical role models, particularly focusing on outcomes for girls and women. Extending earlier reviews, we summarize laboratory-based and field-based studies and then critically discuss and integrate the findings in order to provide an overall picture of how counterstereotypical role models shape observers’ occupational aspirations and academic choices in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. We conclude by outlining suggestions for future research and briefly discussing implications for future interventions.

Study-related mental health symptoms and their correlates among allied health professions students.

Allied health professions (AHP) students are subject to critical levels of study-related stressors including mental health symptoms (MHS) and musculoskeletal pain. Few studies recruited AHP students of multiple academic majors simultaneously. This study investigated and compared the prevalence of MHS severity and their associated factors among students of nine AHP majors. A cross-sectional design was used with a sample of nine AHP academic majors (n = 838). Participants completed a validated self-administered questionnaire that included demographics and life style, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS 21), and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. MHS scores were statistically compared between males and females and between majors. A general linear model (GLM) multivariate procedure was used to assess the statistical associations between MHS and their correlates. Mild to extremely severe MHS levels were found in 62.2% of the participants for depression, 65.3% for anxiety, and 54.2% for stress. Compared to males, females showed significantly higher levels of stress (p < 0.01) and depression (p = 0.018). MHS were statistically associated with gender, physical health, diet quality, study difficulty, satisfaction with academic major, academic major and musculoskeletal pain. University GPA demonstrated negative significant correlations with MHS. MHS in AHP students are prevalent and should be accounted for by AHP educators. More studies are encouraged to assess actual mechanisms causing MHS among AHP students, and effective treatment programs are needed.

A Low-Intensity, Hybrid Design between a "Traditional" and a "Course-Based" Research Experience Yields Positive Outcomes for Science Undergraduate Freshmen and Shows Potential for Large-Scale Application.

Based on positive student outcomes, providing research experiences from early undergraduate years is recommended for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. To this end, we designed a novel research experience called the “STEMCats Research Experience” (SRE) for a cohort of 119 second-semester freshmen with diverse college preparatory levels, demographics, and academic majors. The SRE targeted student outcomes of enhancing retention in STEM majors, STEM competency development, and STEM academic performance. It was designed as a hybrid of features from apprenticeship-based traditional undergraduate research experience and course-based undergraduate research experience designs, considering five factors: 1) an authentic research experience, 2) a supportive environment, 3) current and future needs for scale, 4) student characteristics and circumstances, and 5) availability and sustainability of institutional resources. Emerging concepts for facilitating and assessing student success and STEM curriculum effectiveness were integrated into the SRE design and outcomes evaluation. Here, we report the efficient and broadly applicable SRE design and, based on the analysis of institutional data and student perceptions, promising student outcomes from its first iteration. Potential improvements for the SRE design and future research directions are discussed.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS IN TERMS OF SOME VARIABLES: A PERSPECTIVE FROM INDONESIA

This research explored the level of students’ basic and integrated Science Process Skills (SPS) based on their academic majors, gender, and grade levels at the end of a chemistry laboratory course. Convenience sampling was used to select 298 undergraduate students at the Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia. A survey method was used, and the data were collected using the Basic SPS (BSPS) and Integrated SPS (ISPS) Observation Checklist. The results showed that the students’ basic and integrated SPS were considered medium and low respectively. Furthermore, there was a significant gap in the students’ performance based on their majors, gender and grade levels. Surprisingly, it was found that the perception and social convention that males are stronger than females in science appears not to be the case among students. Moreover, there was a moderate positive and significant correlation between students’ basic and integrated SPS. Students with a high basic SPS score had the tendency to obtain a higher integrated SPS score. Therefore, it is concluded that prior to starting lab course activities, lecturers need to determine their students’ process skills in order to plan in such a manner that they can assist to raise their students’ current basic and integrated SPS. Keywords: academic majors, grade levels, science process skills, undergraduate students.

대학생이 지각한 전공에 대한 상향적 사후가정 사고, 전공 만족, 취업불안 및 행복감 간의 구조적 관계 : 학년 간 차이를 중심으로

대학생이 지각한 전공에 대한 상향적 사후가정 사고, 전공 만족, 취업불안 및 행복감 간의 구조적 관계 : 학년 간 차이를 중심으로

The Relationship Between Participation in Extracurricular Activities, Interaction, Satisfaction With Academic Major, and Career Motivation

As career development is one of the major objectives of college, this study examined how participation in extracurricular activities and interaction with faculty and peers influence satisfaction with academic major and career motivation among Korean students. A research model was proposed based on the literature review. Data were collected from 296 male and 343 female college students, and a structural equation modeling analysis was used to test the proposed model. The results showed that participation in extracurricular activities such as major-related study groups, career development-related activities, social clubs, and community service is positively related to career motivation. It was also found that frequent interaction with faculty and peers was directly and positively related to students’ satisfaction with their academic majors and was indirectly and significantly related to their career motivation. The implications of these findings for college-level measures to improve career motivation are discussed.

Prevention of shape and weight concerns among college students: An examination of education status variables

Objective: The current study examined whether overlooked aspects of the postsecondary student experience predicted individuals’ body-related concerns, beyond the influence of demographic factors that have upheld explanatory power in past research. Participants: Undergraduate and graduate students (n = 3,259) took part in the multi-institute Healthy Bodies Study during the 2015 academic year. Method: Participants completed an online survey that assessed their undergraduate/graduate statuses, academic majors, extracurricular involvements, and body-related concerns. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were run to answer primary study questions. Results: Gender, body mass index (BMI), undergraduate/graduate student status, being a male graduate student, major, and extracurricular activities predicted shape concern (SC), weight concern (WC), and whether these concerns increased since students began at their universities. The addition of the student-specific variables uniquely contributed to the variance in body-related concerns. Conclusions: Further research on the body-related discontent of the identified student groups should be conducted to elucidate potential campus-based treatment targets.

Developing countries: An overlooked segment in business school curricula and co-curricula?

Although they constitute nearly half of the world’s population, developing countries may be overlooked in U.S. business schools. The authors survey U.S. collegiate business programs (n = 80) to explore how developing countries are addressed in the curriculum and co-curriculum. About one third of business programs have some type of curricular offering addressing developing countries, with study abroad programs being most common and academic majors and minors being less common. Institutional affiliation, accreditation, and size are not differentially associated with developing country content, but general campus interest in developing countries is. The authors conclude the article with several recommendations for increasing the attention on developing countries in U.S. business schools.

Teaching 'Trump Feminists'

This article takes up the question of how to develop effective strategies for engaging conservative students who feel under attack in feminist classrooms. Every semester I teach a Women’s Studies course that introduces students to the history and breadth of contemporary feminist social movements, with a focus on feminist struggles that center anti-racist, queer, and economic justice analytical frameworks. As a general education course, listed in the university course catalog under the rather generic title of “Introduction to Women’s Movements,” this class attracts students with a range of political perspectives from a variety of academic majors. While the majority of the students tend to enter the class with relatively liberal analyses of gender and racial oppression, a significant minority of students have more conservative views. Dealing with resistant and conservative students in women and gender studies is not a new phenomenon, especially in my position teaching at a regional comprehensive public university in northern California. While the university administration is supportive of students of color and undocumented students, it is also heavily invested in discourses of civility and ‘free speech.’ The recent election cycle and the current Trump presidency have empowered the more conservative students in my classes to mobilize this language to claim that they feel ‘unsafe’ in class and on campus. The appropriation of feminist and queer discourses of ‘safe space’ by students on the right to position themselves as being under attack and vulnerable presents a series of pedagogical challenges. I challenge explicit racist, misogynist, homophobic, and transphobic comments in class and my course readings rigorously challenge these forms of bias. Personally and politically I am committed to making sure that my students who are actually under threat – undocumented students, students of color, queer and trans students – are receiving the support that they need. However, I am also invested in challenging all of my students and trying to make my classrooms into spaces of transformational learning. I explore the question of dissent in feminist classrooms through the problem of conservative students who deploy rhetorics of safety in ways that flatten out power relations and systemic oppression. How to respond to students who proudly proclaim they voted for Trump and consider themselves feminists, or to students who tearfully confess they feel unsafe on campus because of their political views? What pedagogical strategies actively engage conservative students rather than silence and alienate them? How can instructors problematize the notion of ‘safety’ for conservative students to help them develop more critical understandings of structural violence and precarity?

Can Transfer Guides Improve the Uptake of Major Prerequisites? Evidence from Ohio’s Transfer and Articulation Policy Reform

This study investigates the use of transfer guides to help students identify transferrable prerequisite credits for academic majors. Employing administrative data of students enrolled in Ohio community colleges, I examine the impact of these curricular roadmaps, called Transfer Assurance Guides (TAG), which were featured in reforms of the state's articulation policy. Leveraging variation in the availability of TAGs as a natural experiment, I estimate the impact of these guides on prerequisite course-taking in the fields of history, business, and economics. I also consider whether the effect varies for first-year students compared to returning students. I find that effects on prerequisite course-taking differed across academic majors, and the effects were lower for students enrolled in their first year compared to returning students. The findings suggest that transfer guides may affect student course-taking, but the impact is small and varies by the preparedness level of students.

They Choose to Attend Academic Summer Camps? A Mixed Methods Study Exploring the Impact of a NASA Academic Summer Pre-Engineering Camp On Middle School Students in a Latino Community

Early exposure to engineering and mathematics career opportunities has been indicated to influence students’ decisions regarding their academic majors and career goals. This study utilized mixed methods to analyze how changes in middle school students’ affective characteristics might be linked to their future career decision-making, following participation in an integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics summer camp. As part of the summer camp, rising sixth- through eighth-grade students attended a weeklong learning experience based on a specific engineering context. Each grade level cohort participated with their same grade peers in a 36-hour, 6-day event focused on sparking their interest in engineering careers and developing their content knowledge in select science and mathematics content areas. Pre-post testing was conducted with 65 students of diverse backgrounds in grades six through eight to measure their self-reported engineering-related self-efficacy, knowledge of engineering careers, and motivation to pursue future engineering classes and careers. In addition, interviews were conducted to examine any changes in middle school camp participants’ affective characteristics of motivation, self-efficacy, and self-determination.

Influences of Large State Research University on Student Religious Beliefs and Practices*

Our survey of 1,662 students of nearly equal gender and class standing revealed that our institution seems to affect both religious belief and practice in at least half of the students. The effects become evident after just 1 year and were generally sustained until graduation. Over all 4 years, 10 aspects of university culture enhanced religious beliefs in 33% of students, and 48% reported increased five religious practices. Smaller numbers reported diminished belief (18%) and practices (22%). Precollege religiosity was amplified. Believers strengthened their beliefs, and skeptics became more skeptical. The same was true for all practice factors, except discussion with peers, who had a huge influence, even on enhancing religious practices by atheists and agnostics. Finally, regardless of precollege religiousness, active believers and evangelicals were significantly more likely than atheists and agnostics to have enrolled in nontechnical academic majors.

Openness and postsecondary academic performance: A meta-analysis of facet-, aspect-, and dimension-level correlations.

Openness to experience has often been linked to academic achievement because it subsumes traits such as curiosity, open-mindedness, thoughtfulness, and intellectuality. However, recent meta-analyses have reported rather small true correlation estimates. In this article, we first provide a comprehensive rationale for a relationship between openness and academic performance with a distinct focus on specific components of openness (i.e., facets and aspects). We then extend prior research by presenting our own meta-analysis (k = 28, N = 5,861) on the relationship between 6 openness facets and postsecondary academic performance. Furthermore, we report results from meta-analytic structural equation modeling (k = 19, N = 3,627) that describe the effects of 2 openness aspects, which form an intermediate construct-level between dimension and facets, on academic achievement. Finally, we investigate 2 possible moderators in a dimension-level meta-analysis (k = 149, N = 50,449). Overall, our findings suggest that (a) only 2 openness facets are positive predictors of academic performance, (b) the 2 openness aspects have contrary effects on academic achievement, and (c) the correlation between openness and academic performance is moderated by openness scales and academic majors. We conclude that the true potential of openness for predicting academic performance is concealed within the heterogeneity of the construct and discuss according perspectives for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

Trends in Undergraduate Soil Science Education at Selected Universities in the USA from 2009 to 2013

Core Ideas Enrollment increased in most soil science courses from 2009 to 2013. Students from many different majors took soil science coursework. Total female enrollment increased, but the percentage of female students decreased. Soil judging participation remained consistent. Student to faculty ratio went up between 2009 and 2013. Data were collected from 10 universities in the United States on declared academic majors and gender of students enrolled in seven different soil science courses over a 5‐yr period. Combined trends for all courses and trends for each individual course were evaluated. Data were also collected on the number of students participating in soil judging as well as tenure track and non‐tenure track full time equivalent (FTE) soil science faculty positions. Environmental science, crop science/horticulture/agronomy, and other agricultural students enrolled in soil science courses in the greatest numbers. Environmental science and engineering students showed rapid increases in enrollment, while crop science/horticulture/agronomy and soil science student enrollment declined. Soil physics was the only class where declared soil science students were the single largest enrolled group. Soil judging numbers were consistent, while FTE faculty showed a slight decline. Students from many different academic majors took soil science courses at the universities investigated, and the most common majors in these courses depended on the course and the material it addressed. Overall student enrollment increased in all subject areas investigated except soil physics. While the results from this study are somewhat mixed, the overall growth in student enrollment in soil science courses at the investigated universities, as well as the broad range of majors enrolled in soil science coursework, indicate an upward trajectory in soil science education at these universities.

Negative Gender Ideologies and Gender-Science Stereotypes Are More Pervasive in Male-Dominated Academic Disciplines

Male-dominated work environments often possess masculine cultures that are unwelcoming to women. The present work investigated whether male-dominated academic environments were characterized by gender ideologies with negative implications for women. A survey of 2622 undergraduates across a variety of academic majors examined how gender imbalance within the major corresponded with students’ gender ideologies. We hypothesized that men in male-dominated domains might justify their dominance and prototypical status by adopting gender ideologies and stereotypes that denigrate women and treat men as the normative and superior group. Confirming this hypothesis, men in increasingly male-dominated academic majors were more likely to endorse Assimilationism—that women should adapt and conform to masculine work norms in order to succeed—and Segregationism—that men and women should pursue traditional social roles and careers. Moreover, they were less likely to endorse Gender Blindness—that attention to gender should be minimized. They were also more likely to agree with the gender-science stereotype that men do better in math and science than women. In contrast, gender imbalance in the major did not influence women’s gender ideologies, and women in increasingly male-dominated majors were significantly less likely to endorse the gender-science stereotype.

The effect of selection factors of academic majors on career satisfaction according to the degree of career conversation experienced in adolescence

The effect of selection factors of academic majors on career satisfaction according to the degree of career conversation experienced in adolescence

Using Experimental Research to Test Instructional Effectiveness: A Case Study

ABSTRACTCross-cultural competence is now regarded as a critical student learning outcome by many U.S. higher educational institutions. It requires in part that students be able to empathize with people whose ethno-cultural, economic, political, and/or geographic backgrounds are different from their own—a quality that we are labeling global empathy. Yet colleges and universities frequently find it difficult to develop global empathy among their students. We conducted an experiment to investigate whether different instructional techniques—traditional lecture, video news reports, and an online game—or undergraduate students’ academic majors are associated with variations in indicators of global empathy. Statistically significant variations in survey data were found only among students majoring in psychology and in responses to two survey questions. Two behavioral measures did not reveal any statistically significant variation. A larger sample, longer exposure to treatment condition, or other changes to the experimental design might elucidate stronger evidence that instructional method or undergraduate academic major affects the development of global empathy, but this type of research may not be feasible at colleges and universities where enrollments are small and faculty lack necessary resources.

Exploring the Use and Attitude of the Students towards Informal Learning Spaces (ILS) at Institute of Technology and Science (ITS), Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad: A Study

The aim of this article is to explore the students ’opinion of Institute of Technology and Science (ITS), Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad, with regard to the attitude and use of Informal Learning Spaces (ILS). A survey was conducted through a well-structured and precise questionnaire circulated personally among 170 students studying at ITS, Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad, and were sitting either garden, canteen, corridor or anywhere outside the classroom. The study reveals the fact that majority of the students ’use ILS for academic purpose but majority of the them were not found sitting for academic purpose during the study. The geographical area of study was confined to the students of the ITS, Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad, only with regard to the use and opinion of the student regarding ILS. Hence, the research results are limited to this environment only.

A Predictive Model for Graduate Application to Enrollment

This study involved an investigation of factors that affect a graduate applicant in accepting an offer of admission and enrolling in a graduate program of study at a mid-sized public university. A predictive model was developed, using Decision Tree methodology to assess the probability that an admitted student would enroll in the program during the semester following acceptance. The study included actual application information such as demographic information, distance from the campus, program of interest, tests scores, financial aid, and other pertinent application items of over 4600 graduate applications over a three-year period. The Decision Tree model was then compared with a Bayesian Network model to reaffirm its validity and its predictive power. The method with the more promising outcome was used to develop predictive models for applicants interested in a sample of academic majors. The results of the predictive models were used to illustrate development of recruitment strategies for all applicants as well as for those interested in specific majors.

Revisiting the Congruence–Satisfaction Relationship: The Role of External Forces

The main objective of the present study was to explore the role of the forces in the context external to the setting of a specific vocational setting (i.e., an academic major in a university) in the congruence–satisfaction relationship. Four hundred and fifty-three Chinese university students responded to the Career Personality Styles Inventory, the revised Contextual Supports and Barriers Scale, and the Academic Major Satisfaction Scale. Results indicated that the congruence between individual vocational interests and their academic majors (for brevity, congruence) and two types of external forces (external barriers and support from social relations) were significant predictors of students’ satisfaction with their academic majors. In comparison, the predictive power of external forces for students’ satisfaction with their academic majors was far beyond that of congruence. Moreover, external barriers were a marginally significant moderator in the relationship between congruence and satisfaction. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.