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Choice of fields of study of university Canadian graduates: the role of gender and their parents' education

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  • Brahim Boudarbat
  • Claude Montmarquette

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of the choice of field of study by university students using data from the Canadian National Graduate Survey. The sample of 18,708 graduates holding a Bachelor degree is interesting in itself, knowing that these students completed their study and thus represent a pool of high-quality individuals. What impact do expected post-graduation lifetime earnings have in choosing their field of study respectively to their non-pecuniary preferences? Are these individuals less or more influenced by monetary incentives on their decision than was found in previous literature with samples of university students not all completing their studies successfully? Unlike existing studies, we account for the probability that students will be able to find employment related to their field of study when evaluating lifetime earnings after graduation. The parameters that drive students' choices of fields of study are estimated using a mixed multinomial logit model applied to seven broadly defined fields. Results indicate that the weight put by a student on initial earnings and earnings' rate of growth earnings depends upon the education level of the parent of the same gender. Surprisingly, lifetime earnings have no statistically significant impact when the parent of the same gender as the student has a university education. Results show that men are, in general, more sensitive than women to initial income variations, whilst women are more sensitive than men to the earnings' rate of growth variations. Marital status, enrolment status and the vocation identified with each field of study are influential factors in students' choices. Finally, substantial increases in lifetime earnings would be necessary to draw students into fields of study they are not inclined to choose initially.

Suggested Citation

  • Brahim Boudarbat & Claude Montmarquette, 2009. "Choice of fields of study of university Canadian graduates: the role of gender and their parents' education," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 185-213.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:edecon:v:17:y:2009:i:2:p:185-213
    DOI: 10.1080/09645290802133032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Laure Thomas & Claude Montmarquette, 2005. "La présélection éducationnelle et la ségrégation professionnelle Le cas du Québec et de l'Ontario en 1997," CIRANO Project Reports 2005rp-02, CIRANO.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fernanda Estevan & Thomas Gall & Louis-Philippe Morin, 2019. "Can Affirmative Action Affect Major Choice?," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-324, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    2. Sergey Roshchin & Victor Rudakov, 2015. "Do Starting Salaries for Graduates Measure the Quality of Education? A Review of Studies by Russian and Foreign Authors," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 1, pages 137-181.
    3. Alaitz Artabe & Javier Gardeazabal, 2017. "Degree choice evidence from stated preferences," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 1205-1234, June.
    4. Brahim Boudarbat & Marie Connolly, 2013. "The gender wage gap among recent post‐secondary graduates in Canada: a distributional approach," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(3), pages 1037-1065, August.
    5. Brahim Boudarbat & Claude Montmarquette, 2013. "Origine et sources de la surqualification dans la région métropolitaine de Montréal," CIRANO Project Reports 2013rp-08, CIRANO.
    6. Berlingieri, Francesco & Diegmann, André & Sprietsma, Maresa, 2023. "Preferred field of study and academic performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    7. Aderonke Osikominu & Volker Grossmann & Marius Osterfeld, 2020. "Sociocultural background and choice of STEM majors at university," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(2), pages 347-369.
    8. Siobhan Austen & Fiona MacPhail, 2011. "The Post-School Education Choices of Young Women in Australia and Canada," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 22(3), pages 141-157, November.
    9. Boudarbat, Brahim & Chernoff, Victor, 2009. "The Determinants of Education-Job Match among Canadian University Graduates," IZA Discussion Papers 4513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Glocker, Daniela & Storck, Johanna, 2014. "Risks and returns to educational fields – A financial asset approach to vocational and academic education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 109-129.
    11. Cortes, Patricia & Pan, Jessica, 2017. "Occupation and Gender," IZA Discussion Papers 10672, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Sieuwerd Gaastra, 2020. "Personal Income Taxation and College Major Choice: A Case Study of the 1986 Tax Reform Act," Public Finance Review, , vol. 48(1), pages 3-42, January.
    13. Simona Iammarino & Elisabetta Marinelli, 2012. "Education-Job (Mis)Matching And Interregional Migration: Italian University Graduates’ Transition To Work," Working Papers 8, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Sep 2012.
    14. Nifo, Annamaria & Scalera, Domenico & Vecchione, Gaetano, 2016. "What do you want to be when you grow up? Local institutional quality and the choice of the fields of study in Italy (2004-2007)," MPRA Paper 69907, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Berlingieri, Francesco & Zierahn, Ulrich, 2014. "Field of study, qualification mismatch, and wages: Does sorting matter?," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-076, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. O. Poldin & D. Valeeva & M. Yudkevich, 2015. "Choice of specialization: do peers matter?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(44), pages 4728-4740, September.
    17. Kumar, Anand & Sahoo, Soham, 2021. "Social Identity and STEM Choice: Evidence from Higher Secondary Schooling in India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 900, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Antecol, Heather & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2013. "Do psychosocial traits help explain gender segregation in young people's occupations?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 59-73.
    19. Kavitha Iyer & Anupam Siddhartha, 2021. "Motivate or Demotivate? Factors Influencing Choice of Media as a Career," International Journal of Higher Education, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(1), pages 239-239, February.
    20. Sandner, Malte & Yükselen, Ipek, 2024. "Unraveling the Gender Wage Gap: Exploring Early Career Patterns among University Graduates," IZA Discussion Papers 17293, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Derbachew Asfaw & Zeytu Gashaw, 2021. "Field Assignment, Field Choice and Preference Matching of Ethiopian High School Students," Annals of Data Science, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 185-204, June.

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