Student attrition in gender atypical fields of study. A matter of lacking social integration or pressure from significant others?

Abstract

In most European countries, the choice of college majors is highly segregated by gender. Only a small amount of students enrolls in a gender atypical major. Previous studies indicated that these students may have a higher attrition rate than their counterparts in gender typical majors. In this paper, I investigated whether this higher attrition rate is caused by lower levels of social integration and pressure from significant others. I built a synthesis of Tinto’s model of student drop out and Kanter’s theory of tokenism and drew on theories of comparative reference groups to test these hypotheses. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study, which follows undergraduate students who enrolled in 2010, I conducted discrete time survival analysis. I found that men and women in gender atypical majors have a higher risk to switch to a more gender balanced major and – only for women - to drop out than students in gender typical majors. Low levels of social integration and disapproval of the major by significant others increase the attrition risk. However, these two aspects do not contribute to the explanation of the higher attrition risk of students in gender atypical majors. Alternative explanations are discussed.

Gender-Atypical Learning Experiences for Men Reduce Occupational Sex Segregation: Causal Evidence from the Suspension of the Civilian Service in Germany

“…This restriction and the focus on first jobs does not allow to assess potential long-term effects of for instance men exiting female-dominated occupations at higher rates (Jacobs, 1989;Torre, 2018). Similarly, the field of vocational and college education is not observed and while the civilian service might have prompted some men to enter education in femaledominated fields, they also might have renounced from these before entering the labor market (Jusri, 2019). Nevertheless, the analyzed transitions to first occupations are highly consequential for the entire work life as occupational mobility in Germany is comparatively low (Breen, 2004).…”

“…However, a lack of social support seem to remain indicated by men in female-dominated occupations reporting the lowest perceived support in comparison to men in other occupations (Busch, 2013a). Negative experiences within the job accumulate into higher exit rates of men from gender-atypical domains in comparison to their counterparts in integrated or gender-typical domains (Jacobs, 1989;Torre, 2018;Jusri, 2019).…”