| Abstract | This paper analyzes the relationship between gender and likelihood of majoring in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) field in college, as well as the relationship between academic self-concepts and major. The data are derived from the CIRP College Senior Survey of 1994-2006, sponsored by UCLA's HERI, the Texas Christian University Freshman Survey results from 2012 to 2015 and an investigator-designed survey sent to all TCU students in 2017. The data include survey responses from over 450,000 college students at hundreds of institutions across the US. Results suggest a strong relationship between math ability self-rating and STEM. It is also suggested that females are less likely than males to major in STEM, and being female is correlated with a lower math self-rating. In addition, results suggest that there is a strong relationship between if a student's mother has a career and that student pursuing a STEM major. |
