Gender of Siblings and Choice of College Major

Abstract

In this study we analyze whether the gender composition of siblings within a family affects the choice of College Major. The question is whether a family environment that is more gender-homogeneous encourages academic choices that are less gender stereotyped. We use the last name and the exact family address contained in a unique dataset covering 30,000 Italian students graduated from high school between 1985 and 2005 to identify siblings. We follow the academic career of these individuals from high school to college graduation. We find that mixed gender siblings within a family tend to choose college majors following a stereotypical gender specialization. Namely, males have higher probability of choosing "male dominated" majors such as Engineering and women higher probability of choosing "female dominated" majors such as Humanities. Same-gender siblings, on the other hand, have higher probability of making non-gender stereotyped choices. This college major choice is not driven by the choice of high school academic curriculum, which appears to be mainly function of geographical proximity to schools.

Subgrouping siblings of people with autism: Identifying the broader autism phenotype

“…Another limitation is that it is difficult to control variables such as sibling pair gender dyads and birth order, which may influence behavior and ratings on measures of autistic traits. For instance, families where all siblings are the same gender have been shown to be less influenced by gender stereotypes [Anelli & Peri, ]. It has also been shown that shared environment, as well as genetic relatedness, may also play a role in ASC [Hallmayer et al, ].…”

The effect of opposite sex siblings on cognitive and noncognitive skills in early childhood

“…Moreover, several studies have found that the gender composition of siblings also affects educational outcomes, but the evidence on gender peer effects of siblings is more mixed (Anelli and Peri 2015;Brunello and De Paola 2013;Butcher and Case 1994;Hauser and Kuo 1998;Parish and Willis 1993). However, most of the economic literature on sibling effects focuses on outcomes at later stages in life, while gender peer effects of siblings may arguably be most pronounced before children make regular contact with other peer groups.…”

"I'm Not Good at Math," She Said.

“…This research focused on how lifetime identity development influenced behavioral choices, and how collective identities associated with gender affected the life choices of females. Anelli and Perry [2] found a relationship between the gender of siblings and their choice of college major; specifically, families with same-gender siblings encouraged academic choices that are less gender stereotyped. This included females in engineering, science, and business.…”

“…In the United States (US), approximately 18% of engineering students are females, compared to 64% of humanities students [1]. It was previously assumed, erroneously, that males had better mathematics and spatial skills than females, but this self-evident "truth" has been debunked by research [2]. In fact, high school females tend to have higher average mathematics scores than high school males, yet they enter science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in much lower numbers [3].…”

“…College enrollment of females has surpassed that of males in the health sciences, while other historically male-dominated fields have gained gender parity. Meanwhile, the percentage of females in engineering remains low and virtually unchanged [2].…”