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Personality traits, preferences and educational choices: A focus on STEM

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  • Coenen, Johan
  • Borghans, Lex
  • Diris, Ron

Abstract

Around the developed world, the need for graduates from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields is growing. Research on educational and occupational choice has traditionally focused on the cognitive skills of prospective students, and on how these determine the expected costs and benefits of study programs. Little work exists that analyzes the role of personality traits on study choice. This study investigates how personality traits relate to preferences of students for STEM studies and occupations, and to specialization choice in high school. We use a rich data set that combines administrative and survey data of Dutch secondary education students. We find that personality traits are related to both the preference that students have for STEM as the actual decision to specialize in STEM studies, but to different degrees. We identify significant relations with preference indicators for all Big Five traits, especially for Openness to Experience (positive), Extraversion and Agreeableness (both negative). The size of these relations is often larger than those between cognitive skills and STEM preferences. Personality traits are comparatively less important with respect to the actual specialization choice, for which we identify a robust (and sizable) negative relation with Extraversion, and for girls find a positive relation with Openness to Experience. The results suggest that once students have to make actual study choice decisions, they rely more on cognitive skills rather than personality traits, in contrast to their expressed preferences.

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  • Coenen, Johan & Borghans, Lex & Diris, Ron, 2021. "Personality traits, preferences and educational choices: A focus on STEM," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:84:y:2021:i:c:s0167487021000015
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2021.102361
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    Cited by:

    1. Alderotti, Giammarco & Rapallini, Chiara & Traverso, Silvio, 2023. "The Big Five personality traits and earnings: A meta-analysis," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Kuhn, Andreas & Wolter, Stefan C., 2022. "Things versus People: Gender Differences in Vocational Interests and in Occupational Preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 210-234.
    3. Thomas Buser & Rafael Ahlskog & Magnus Johannesson & Sven Oskarsson, 2022. "Occupational sorting on genes," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-062/I, Tinbergen Institute, revised 29 Mar 2023.
    4. Mei-Hui Peng & Bireswar Dutta, 2023. "The Mediating Effects of Innovativeness and System Usability on Students’ Personality Differences: Recommendations for E-Learning Platforms in the Post-Pandemic Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, March.
    5. Rohde, Nicholas & Trivedi, Pravin & Tang, K.K. & Rao, Prasada, 2023. "Cognitive and non-cognitive traits and the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic inequality," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    6. Kamilla Marchewka-Bartkowiak & Karolina Anna Nowak & Michał Litwiński, 2022. "Digital valuation of personality using personal tokens," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(3), pages 1555-1576, September.
    7. Aabo, Tom & Hansen, Malene & Krog, Sara Husted & Kynde, Katrine, 2024. "Explaining differences in CEO gender diversity across industries: Do personality traits matter?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Personality; Educational choice; STEM;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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