Occupational segregation is a reality in the labor market and one of the significant reasons that explains the persistent wage gap between men and women. While some occupations, specifically those in healthcare and education, have become increasingly integrated over time, others remain highly concentrated by either men or women. Women are overrepresented in teaching and nursing, while men dominate the industries of business, engineering, and construction (source 1). This occupational segregation by sex is widespread in all industrialized nations and serves as an index of dissimilarity. Available research has documented an inverse correlation between occupational segregation and wages: a decline in occupational segregation marks an increase in women’s earnings. During the 1970s and 1980s when women made great progress and moved into male-dominated jobs, women’s earnings relative to men’s encountered the greatest advancement. However, this trend slowed in the 1990s as occupational integration stagnated and there was little improvement in the gender wage gap (Gault). Even though women have undoubtedly advanced towards economic equality and have caught up with men in terms of educational attainment, women’s average earnings for full-time wage and salary workers are only 78 to 82 percent of men’s earnings (Sharpe, Lecture 2015). Researchers have also compared the income levels of men and women at one year after graduation and at 10 years after graduation and noted that the difference in income only increases within this period (Sharpe, Lecture 2015). Statistics like these that illustrate women’s subordinate position in the labor market compared to that of their male counterparts lead us to question how the unequal standards for employed women were established. One speculation revolves around the different areas of study men and women choose to major in during college. Education is a crucial factor that determines employment in our competitive modern economy. One could generally observe that females tend to major in health, social sciences, or humanities, while males are more likely to major in business, math and sciences, or engineering. Moreover, women are more likely to uphold a liberal arts education and seek majors that are based on their interests and passions, whereas, men are more likely to be concerned about the returns on investment they would get from their major in terms of long-term financial advantages and professional status to provide for their families. Purpose and Methods In this paper, I investigate to what extent gender segregation in fields of study affects the career choices that individual’s make and how their choices may be evidence for the long-term gender occupational segregation in our society today. I hypothesize that the difference in majors explains the gender wage gap because it can directly affect career choices by separating men and women into industries related to their majors that have different base salaries. I expect female students to select majors that they are interested in and males to choose their majors based on future returns and expectations. This study aims to conduct interviews among Columbia University and Barnard College students about their majors to see how their decisions relate to their future career prospects. I interviewed six Columbia and Barnard students (three females and three males) for this study: Yani, Vivian, Annah, James, Raymond, and Changhee. The informal interviews consisted
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Vivian declared a double major in Political Science and Psychology, and explained, “I knew that these were what I wanted to study because I am curious of the answers that these disciplines strive to provide, and I have always wanted to learn about people-related subjects. The best part about studying these two majors is that they taught me how to think critically like a scientist and how to write effectively.” Annah also selected a major that she was personally interested in prior to entering college, “I already had an interest in Asian culture (Indian and Korean) before I applied to college so I specifically chose colleges that had good [Asian] programs or language classes. Once I started taking classes, my interest grew and it just felt natural to declare Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures as my major. I also like that my major is pretty interdisciplinary and allows me to pick out my own concentration.” Both Vivian and Annah described a strong appeal to acquiring knowledge in subjects that they were attracted to instead of targeting their majors for practicality in a
Vivian declared a double major in Political Science and Psychology, and explained, “I knew that these were what I wanted to study because I am curious of the answers that these disciplines strive to provide, and I have always wanted to learn about people-related subjects. The best part about studying these two majors is that they taught me how to think critically like a scientist and how to write effectively.” Annah also selected a major that she was personally interested in prior to entering college, “I already had an interest in Asian culture (Indian and Korean) before I applied to college so I specifically chose colleges that had good [Asian] programs or language classes. Once I started taking classes, my interest grew and it just felt natural to declare Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures as my major. I also like that my major is pretty interdisciplinary and allows me to pick out my own concentration.” Both Vivian and Annah described a strong appeal to acquiring knowledge in subjects that they were attracted to instead of targeting their majors for practicality in a