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Following in Her Footsteps? Faculty Gender Composition and Women's Choices of College Majors

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  • Brandice J. Canes
  • Harvey S. Rosen

Abstract

Although it is widely supposed that a college's female undergraduate enrollment in the sciences and engineering can be increased by raising female representation on the faculties in those fields, that proposition has not been subjected to serious statistical analysis. The authors of this paper analyze panel data from three quite different educational institutions—Princeton University, the University of Michigan, and Whittier College—to examine the relationship between the gender composition of the students in an academic department and the gender composition of its faculty at the time the students were choosing their majors. They find no evidence that an increase in the share of women on a department's faculty led to an increase in its share of female majors.

Suggested Citation

  • Brandice J. Canes & Harvey S. Rosen, 1995. "Following in Her Footsteps? Faculty Gender Composition and Women's Choices of College Majors," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 48(3), pages 486-504, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:48:y:1995:i:3:p:486-504
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    Cited by:

    1. Shi, Ying, 2018. "The puzzle of missing female engineers: Academic preparation, ability beliefs, and preferences," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 129-143.
    2. Roberta Edgecombe Robb & A. Leslie Robb, 1999. "Gender and the Study of Economics: The Role of Gender of the Instructor," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 3-19, January.
    3. Lusher, Lester & Campbell, Doug & Carrell, Scott, 2018. "TAs like me: Racial interactions between graduate teaching assistants and undergraduates," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 203-224.
    4. David Neumark & Rosella Gardecki, 1998. "Women Helping Women? Role Model and Mentoring Effects on Female Ph.D. Students in Economics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 33(1), pages 220-246.
    5. Takao Kato & Yang Song, 2022. "Advising, gender, and performance: Evidence from a university with exogenous adviser–student gender match," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 121-141, January.
    6. Griffith, Amanda L. & Main, Joyce B., 2019. "First impressions in the classroom: How do class characteristics affect student grades and majors?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 125-137.
    7. Puhani, Patrick A., 2018. "Do boys benefit from male teachers in elementary school? Evidence from administrative panel data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 340-354.
    8. Kugler, Adriana & Tinsley, Catherine H. & Ukhaneva, Olga, 2017. "Choice of Majors: Are Women Really Different from Men?," IZA Discussion Papers 10947, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Karnani, Mohit, 2016. "Freshmen teachers and college major choice: Evidence from a random assignment in Chile," MPRA Paper 76062, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Wayne A Grove x & Stephen Wu, 2011. "Factors Influencing Student Performance in Economics: Class and Instructor Characteristics," Chapters, in: Gail M. Hoyt & KimMarie McGoldrick (ed.), International Handbook on Teaching and Learning Economics, chapter 33, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Florian Hoffmann & Philip Oreopoulos, 2009. "A Professor Like Me: The Influence of Instructor Gender on College Achievement," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(2).
    12. Nayoung Rim, 2017. "The Effect of Title IX on Gender Disparity in Graduate Education," Departmental Working Papers 58, United States Naval Academy Department of Economics.
    13. Billger, Sherrilyn M., 2006. "Reconstructing School Segregation: On the Efficacy and Equity of Single-Sex Schooling," IZA Discussion Papers 2037, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Eric P. Bettinger & Bridget Terry Long, 2005. "Do Faculty Serve as Role Models? The Impact of Instructor Gender on Female Students," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 152-157, May.
    15. John J. Siegfried, 2011. "The Economics Major in the United States," Chapters, in: Gail M. Hoyt & KimMarie McGoldrick (ed.), International Handbook on Teaching and Learning Economics, chapter 68, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Hisanobu Kakizawa, 2017. "The Effects of Student-Teacher Gender Matching on Students f Performance in Junior High Schools in Japan," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 17-29, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    17. Steven Bednar & Dora Gicheva, 2018. "Career Implications of Having a Female-Friendly Supervisor," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 71(2), pages 426-457, March.
    18. Höckel, Lisa, 2019. "Speaking the same language - The effect of foreign origin teachers on students’ language skills," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203638, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    19. Holmlund, Helena & Sund, Krister, 2008. "Is the gender gap in school performance affected by the sex of the teacher," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 37-53, February.
    20. Speer, Jamin D., 2017. "The gender gap in college major: Revisiting the role of pre-college factors," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 69-88.
    21. Kato, Takao & Song, Yang, 2018. "An Advisor like Me: Does Gender Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 11575, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Gary M. Fournier & Tim R. Sass, 2000. "Take My Course, Please : The Effects of the Principles Experience on Student Curriculum Choice," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(4), pages 323-339, December.
    23. Bottia, Martha Cecilia & Stearns, Elizabeth & Mickelson, Roslyn Arlin & Moller, Stephanie & Valentino, Lauren, 2015. "Growing the roots of STEM majors: Female math and science high school faculty and the participation of students in STEM," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 14-27.
    24. Kevin N. Rask & Elizabeth M. Bailey, 2002. "Are Faculty Role Models? Evidence from Major Choice in an Undergraduate Institution," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 99-124, June.
    25. Hoffman, Florian & Oreopoulos, Philip, 2009. "A Professor Like Me: Influence of Professor Gender on University Achievement," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-13, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 02 Feb 2009.

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