The Scholastic Aptitude Test "explains" why college men major in science more often than college women.

Abstract

The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) was used to predict the major field choices of students at four large universities. Major field was coded on a science-nonscience continuum, and it could be predicted almost as accurately as grade point average. The SAT mathematical subtest (SAT-M) received virtually all of the weight in the prediction equation. Semipartial correlation was performed to determine if the aforementioned prediction was a mere artifact of sex differences. The results strongly suggested that (a) mathematical ability is an important determinant of major field choice, and (b) the male-female difference in major field choice is largely mediated by the sex difference in mathematical ability. A remedy was suggested for female underrepresentation in science fields.

Sex Differences in Choice of College Science Majors

“…The fact that mathematics achievement at the end of high school did not emerge here as a strong predictor of science majoring, especially for women, seems puzzling in light of other research findings (Campbell and McCabe, 1982;Goldman & Hewitt, 1976;Ware & Dill, 1986;Ware, Steckler, & Leserman, 1985). We believe this is attributable to two factors specific to this study:…”

“…Among the factors cited in partial explanation of women's underrepresentation in scientific majors are: the fact that girls complete fewer high school courses in science and mathematics than boys (Baruch & Nagy, 1977;Berryman, 1983;Campbell & McCabe, 1982;Duntman, 1979;Thomas, 1984); gender-linked differences in demonstrated mathematical ability, often as indicated by mean scores for males and females on the mathematics section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (Berryman, 1983;Campbell & McCabe, 1982;Duntman, 1979;Goldman & Hewitt, 1976); 2 women students' lower estimates of their scientific and mathematical capabilities (Betz & Hackett, 1983;DeBoer, 1984aDeBoer, , 1986; discrepancies between the personality characteristics scientists are likely to exhibit and those associated with femininity (Baker, 1984;Duntman, 1979); parents' lower aspirations for their daughters than for their sons (Duntman, 1979;Graham, 1978); and the tendency of women students to react less positively than their male peers to the first courses in science and mathematics they encounter in college (Ware, Steckler, & Leserman, 1985). The fact that women characteristically receive less financial aid than men as college students, making it harder for them to undertake the graduate training essential to preparation for a scientific career, has also been pointed out (Chipman, Brush, & Wilson, 1985;Klein, 1985;Moran, 1986).…”

Family Socioeconomic Status, Parental Involvement, and College Major Choices—Gender, Race/Ethnic, and Nativity Patterns

“…One regards substantive knowledge domains and is along the math intensity continuum, ranging from the most math intensive (technical) to the least math intensive (humanity/arts). It is similar to Goldman and Hewitt's (1976) five-point science-nonscience continuum. This is superior to the binary division of science and engineering (S&E) versus non-S&E because the aggregate "S&E field versus non-S&E" obscures distinctions within the broad category.…”

Undergraduate Women: Who Chooses a Science Major?

“…What did prove to be related to women's choice of a science major was, as we have seen, an earlier measure of mathematical aptitude-the achievement of outstanding mathematics scores on the SAT. The strength of SAT mathematics scores as a predictor of science concentration was reported some years ago by Goldman and Hewitt, whose investigation of the relationship between performance on the SAT and choice of a college major led them to conclude that "mathematical ability appears to be an important determinant in the choice of a scientific vs. a nonscientific major field" [10]. In the Goldman and Hewitt study, the preponderance of male over female science majors is largely explained by the fact that the men had higher SAT math scores than the women did.…”

“…Journal of Higher Education or aptitude [2,3,13,16,21]; traditional sex-role definitions and socialization practices that define science and mathematics as male domains [7,8]; women's conceptions of their own abilities in these areas [9,11]; gender differences in the amount of support for involvement in science and mathematics received from parents, teachers, counselors and peers [7,19]; and a lower level of preparation in science and mathematics among women [1,10,18]. Early studies of sex differences in mathematical ability tended to be flawed by a failure to control for differences in students' preparation level.…”