Gender Differences in the Choice of Major: The Importance of Female Role Modelsâ€
CatherinePorter1 and DanilaSerra2
1Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster LA14YX, UK (email: [email protected])
2Department of Economics, Texas A&M University, 3094 Allen Building, College Station, TX 77843 (email: [email protected])
Abstract
We conducted a field experiment aimed at increasing the percentage of women majoring in economics. We exposed students enrolled in introductory classes to successful and charismatic women who majored in economics at the same university. The intervention significantly impacted female students’ enrollment in further economics classes, increasing their likelihood to major in economics by 8 percentage points. This is a large effect, given that only 9 percent of women were majoring in economics at baseline. Since the impacted women were previously planning to major in lower-earning fields, our low-cost intervention may have a positive effect on their future incomes. (JEL A22, C93, I23, I26, J16)