Purpose
College students at American universities can be undeclared major during their first two years. This study aims to expose the factors that affect undecided students to choose a major at SDSU. Knowing these causes would greatly aid student affairs professionals--especially first year advisors--to help these students well. According to Turner and Bowen (1998)“understanding the factors that influence choice of major, for men and women, is one part of the larger process of understanding personal as well as societal returns to varied investments in human capital” (p. 289).
There are several studies on the choice of major issues; two found that the SAT test plays a big role in choice of a major (Turner& Bowen, 1998; Porte & Umbach, 2006). In 1998, Turner and Bowen's study indicates that a student with a high score in the verbal part and low score in the quantitive part has a positive outcome on the probability of majoring in the human science. (Porte & Umbach, 2006) collected their data from a institutional databases and studied a group of factors affected major choice which based on dependents variables “arts and humanities, interdisciplinary, social sciences, and life and natural sciences.” and independent variables which were “variables to understand the factors affecting major choice: demographics, parental influence, academic preparation, future views of the academic career, political views, and personality/goals based on the Holland typology ” (p. 434). Moreover, (Turner& Bowen, 1998) focused on the gender differences by measuring SAT scores to see how extended the academic achievement . Malgwi, Howe, and Burnaby (2005) examined factors that impact future business students’ first choice of college major, as well as any l...
... middle of paper ...
...or Business, 80(5), 275-282.
Ma, Y. (2009). Family socioeconomic status, parental involvement, and college major choices--gender, Race/Ethnic, and nativity patterns. Sociological Perspectives, 52(2), 211-234.
Pearson, C., & Dellman-Jenkins, M. (1997). Parental influence on a student's selection of a college major. College Student Journal, 31(3), 301.
Porter, S. R., & Umbach, P. D. (2006). College Major Choice: An Analysis of Person–Environment Fit. Research In Higher Education, 47(4), 429-449.
Gemici, A., & Wiswall, M. (2014). Evolution Of Gender Difference In Post-secondary Human Capital Investments: College Major. International Economic Review, 55(1), 23-56. doi:10.1111/iere.12040
Daly, B. A. (2005). Color and gender based differences in the sources of influence attributed to the choice of college major. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 16(1), 27-45.
When it comes to the individual choice on college education. Each student is motivated by a different branch of knowledge. Some have the goals of becoming lawyers, doctors, bankers, others choose to learn more about the liberal arts and its influence in building their personal characteristics with the world around them. This is precisely why institutions offer a large variety of programs to attract many high school seniors when it comes to deciding which institute to attend.
An undergraduate that is primarily focusing on a liberal major has the tendency to become lazy. “Colleges have allowed widespread grade inflation and shown increased tolerance of late or incomplete work” (46). A ripple effect swept through the majority of students and led to apathetic habits. The realization of this, made colleges decide what kind of educational opportunity that can help in the improvement of the little effort being put into liberal major responsibilities. “A much more controversial step would be to allow undergraduates to take a small number of elective courses in practical vocational subjects, such as accounting, marketing, or finance”
Am I on the right path; am I choosing the right major? Or what kind of job would I get after finishing college? As a college student I need to ask myself these questions so I know what I want. Even though a college student switches their major for all the right reasons, but student might sacrifice their happiness. What should college students hear before settling on the major? After reading the Scott Keyes article, I found it effective because I understood the purpose of him writing about college students changing their major. I can relate to the article and I agreed with all of his main points because I am a college student.
“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed.” (Wiesel 32). Elie Wiesel wrote his memoir Night about his eleven months in a Nazi concentration camp, which he compared to one long night. In the concentration camps he was subjected to physical and mental harm, which no human should ever have to endure. Wiesel’s memoir Night illustrates how his experiences in the Holocaust caused him to lose innocence, develop family bonds, and lose faith in religion.
what you'd like to major, why or how your past academic or work experience influenced your decision
Attending to the limitations of both sociological and economic theoretical approaches, researchers suggest college choice decisions are not explained by one theoretical approach alone, but are best understood by integrated approaches which incorporate aspects of human capital models with sociological constructs (Freeman, 1997; Paulsen, 2001; Paulsen and St. John, 2002; Perna, 2000, 2006; St. John and Asker, 2001). In this section, I describe dominant conceptualizations of college choice focusing on limitations for students of color at the point in which students make key decisions.
A college education gives a person the opportunity to be successful in life, either financially or morally dependent on the goals that they set for their life. They will choose a college that offer programs for the major of their choice, where they will specialize and receive a degree. The decision to pursue a higher education will give the opportunity to earn a better income over someone who does not have a degree. College is more of life preparation course that will help make sure a successful career. If a person pursues a career in engineering, physics or mathematics their curriculum would include more liberal art preparation courses, in order for them to earn their degree, so someone pursuing a degree in these types of careers are attending college for job preparation. On December 10, 2009 at Hamilton University in Clinton, New York, college professors debated current college curriculum (Liew). They talked about how their college could make a leap from being good to being great. At the 22nd American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges conference held in Long Beach California on November 14, 1996 the topic of changing curriculum was discussed (“Mich”). The University of Louisiana, Lafayette, is eliminating its philosophy major, while Michigan State University is doing away with American studies and classics, after years of decline in enrollments in those majors (Zernike). The purpose of a college education is to meet the student's liberal art’s needs so that they can compete and understand the connection between a degree and a job that will enable them to compete with other world economies, give them a well-rounded education that will enable them to earn a higher income, and retain a lifetime full of knowledge.
Zac Bissonnette, “Your College Major May Not Be as Important as You Think”. New York Times. New York Times. 03 November 2010. Web. 05 Mar. 2014
As an adult you will be opposed with many difficult decisions throughout your life time, and deciding my major had to be one of the toughest decisions I’ve made in my short adult hood. Choosing my major was a tough decision for me because I knew my next four years of college would be the most vital years of my life for years to come. Weighing out all possible outcomes, likes, beliefs and dreams I finally came to the decision of my major.
These eighteen year olds who had virtually no say in what they wanted to study in high school are now ask “ what is your major?” or better yet “what do you want to do for the rest of your life?” This is a big question, and most have no idea what they want to do. So, in a state of confusion they instinctively choose to study in a field that will benefit them economically when they graduate. Is this what a higher education means, to go through college fixed on the money? Or, is there a deeper meaning to it all, if so how can it be obtained? These are the sort of questions that need to be asked when considering going to college.
Graduating High school is a milestone for many, it’s a step into the world full of opportunities and the next step to pursuing higher education. Many students begin the process of figuring out what college they would like to attend prior to even graduating, this is something that is instilled in students all throughout their years of schooling. Most high school students know what college they want to in their junior year of high school, while others conduct extensive research. Students want to attend a school that they can call their second home, especially because some students move away from home to pursue further education. Although Mark Edmundson has noted that higher education caters to consumerist tendencies of students, he has overlooked
Further education gives students an opportunity to develop skills, talents, and discover new interests. It teaches students how to examine, evaluate, and compare arguments with different people. Many young students are undecided about their career path when they think about college. Some people are not ready to decide their majors because they have not received enough information about the different subjects. Fortunately, colleges offer students the opportunity of exploring a variety ...
Some people already know by the age of seven that they want to become a pilot or nurse; others, however, have more difficulties deciding what to do with their future. People who decided to go to a university or college have to make an important choice: what major are they going into? For many people this is a very difficult question. As the statistics show, one out of five students change their major between admission and the first day of classes. Nearly three out of four students change majors at least twice before they graduate. And three out of four college students express uncertainly about their major. These striking results raised some questions for me. Is it really necessary to choose a major? What influence has the choice of a specific major on the student and his or her education? What are the opportunities for the future? And how can these students be helped? Since I am still having trouble choosing a major myself, I decided to do some research on this topic and I hope it will help you a little bit to make the right choice.
college students in today 's 21st-century struggle with choosing a college major and deciding on a
D'Arcy, J. (2012, 12 1). Choosing a major in college: Do parents get a say? . Washington Post .