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Assortative preferences in choice of major Cover
By:   
Open Access
|Sep 2020

Figures & Tables

Table 1

Field-of-study homogamy (FSH) by prime CIP codes (weighted)

Wife’s major
1234567891011
Husband’s majorNormalized by husband’s major
Education11.000.250.270.190.000.270.260.250.260.180.19
Arts20.181.000.420.420.000.290.310.290.300.010.28
Humanities30.430.431.000.420.000.380.360.320.350.140.25
Law40.370.360.471.000.000.340.320.280.310.010.17
Business50.230.260.300.331.000.280.270.220.230.000.11
Science60.470.440.580.430.001.000.850.420.470.340.26
Math/Comp.70.250.510.510.610.390.501.000.430.420.000.30
Engineering80.000.350.170.171.000.350.450.660.440.700.79
Agriculture90.300.190.090.160.000.300.190.221.000.360.21
Health100.280.290.300.260.000.340.290.290.311.000.25
Services110.000.320.180.250.540.280.360.350.380.631.00
Normalized by wife’s major
Education11.000.290.500.290.000.370.010.070.140.180.10
Arts20.371.000.570.470.230.410.150.180.230.200.26
Humanities30.430.481.000.460.140.450.150.130.200.170.18
Law40.420.460.671.000.090.470.120.110.200.040.08
Business50.370.310.530.470.970.380.040.000.000.000.00
Science60.410.390.590.420.201.000.870.200.300.280.19
Math/Comp.70.370.440.550.480.320.481.000.200.230.170.22
Engineering80.000.000.000.001.000.000.131.000.160.681.00
Agriculture90.410.350.470.400.270.450.070.181.000.340.26
Health100.380.310.490.360.050.460.000.120.171.000.17
Services110.300.330.420.370.390.300.110.170.230.420.68

[i] Notes: The sample used in this table contains all working spouses, regardless of whether they have children with or without an identified CIP code. Because of the very few observations, the table does not report “Others” classified under CIP code 12. The details of majors are as follows: (1) Education, (2) Visual and performing arts, and communication technologies, (3) Humanities, (4) Social and behavioral sciences and law, (5) Business, management and public administration, (6) Physical and life sciences and technologies, (7) Mathematics, computer and information sciences, (8) Architecture, engineering, and related technologies, (9) Agriculture, and natural sources and conservation, (10) Health and related fields, and (11) Personal, protective, and transportation services.

Table 2

Field-of-study homogamy (FSH) by prime CIP codes (weighted)

Son’s major
Father’s major1234567891011
Education10.940.801.000.810.800.740.740.000.700.880.63
Arts20.321.000.370.350.310.360.320.000.210.350.38
Humanities30.600.721.000.730.510.590.570.000.560.590.48
Law40.650.720.871.000.770.680.660.000.600.680.53
Business50.550.540.640.691.000.610.570.000.500.560.43
Science60.640.630.670.730.601.000.690.000.510.630.35
Math/Comp.70.640.760.880.630.730.981.000.000.520.640.54
Engineering80.170.140.000.020.000.080.181.000.200.140.21
Agriculture90.230.100.010.110.020.200.160.001.000.260.51
Health100.690.660.760.750.631.000.570.000.570.840.59
Services110.250.210.080.060.000.120.250.510.240.231.00
Mother’s major
Education10.980.840.941.000.860.840.770.000.770.850.46
Arts20.381.000.650.620.400.450.420.000.370.420.15
Humanities30.620.711.000.780.700.740.670.000.570.580.46
Law40.520.590.691.000.750.530.470.000.550.540.47
Business50.210.140.060.000.370.170.291.000.250.160.38
Science60.720.640.700.660.751.000.700.000.600.640.57
Math/Comp.70.390.440.510.380.000.961.000.450.300.200.05
Engineering80.140.190.100.090.000.270.231.000.170.330.25
Agriculture90.390.430.270.400.000.420.320.691.000.340.42
Health100.450.180.000.070.020.420.340.840.571.000.96
Services110.210.270.060.000.020.210.261.000.280.220.60

[i] Notes: See the notes to Table 1 for the full description of majors.

Table 3

Distribution of fathers and mothers by NFOR and 12 prime CIP codes (% and weighted)

FatherMother
NFORMajor’sNFORMajor’s
Majors1.0–0.80.8–0.0share1.0–0.80.8–0.0share
Education157.3242.687.4156.8043.208.74
Arts228.5071.503.4428.3371.673.55
Humanities311.0388.974.8610.0589.955.16
Law423.8976.119.6223.5176.4911.15
Business516.3483.6620.0214.9885.0222.94
Science626.5373.473.3326.2873.723.21
Math/Comp.732.1167.893.6129.0170.993.27
Engineering842.9957.0126.2642.1057.9016.79
Agriculture925.3974.612.9323.5176.492.55
Health1036.1563.8511.9133.2266.7816.08
Services1136.9163.096.6134.5865.426.58
Total32.1567.8529.6270.38

[i] Notes: (1) See the notes to Table 1 for the full description of majors. (2) The sample used in this table contains all working spouses, regardless of whether they have children with or without an identified CIP code.

Table 4

Average FSA by NFOR based on 41 major CIP codes (weighted)

NFORCFather–sonMother–sonFather–daughterMother–daughter
F = 1, M = 10.4660.5340.5250.445
F = 1, M = 20.4690.5150.5270.425
F = 2, M = 10.4180.5350.5020.443
F = 2, M = 20.4170.5170.4920.428

[i] Note: The sample used in this table contains all working spouses regardless of whether they have children with or without an identified CIP code.

Table 5

Intergenerational transmission of field of study with 41 major CIP codes

12
FSA–SonFSA–DaughterFSA–SonFSA–Son
FatherMotherFatherMotherFatherMotherFatherMother
FSH = 1 (if same major)0.0550.0020.0250.015
0.0010.0080.0010.062
NFSHM0.0500.051
0.0060.005
NFSHF0.1000.038
0.0030.002
FORCF= 10.0440.027
0.0020.001
FORCM= 10.0200.016
0.0010.003
EDH0.0460.0270.0180.0250.0400.0450.0250.026
0.0030.0020.010.0070.0010.0030.0010.002
Household income 0.0090.0020.0060.0010.0070.0020.0050.001
0.0010.0090.0010.0020.0010.0090.0010.004
Constant0.3470.5290.4640.4340.3900.6150.4640.434
0.0000.0000.0000.0000.0000.0000.0000.000
Number of Obs.23,74823,74822,25422,25421,10120,01620,19519,159

[i] Notes: (1) Dependent variables are indicated in each column’s heading. (2) Standard errors reported under the coefficients are adjusted by using the two-way clustering method (Cameron et al., 2011) at the individual and household levels. (3) EDH reflects education-degree homogamy and is a continuous variable normalized between 0 and 1. HH Income is the annual disposable income for the household. Other variables that are not reported in the table control for household size, first spoken official language, whether the family is in rural area, and provincial fixed effects. (4) We also ran the regressions with and without the parental age variables. The results are insensitive to the inclusion of parental age variables. (5) When we control for field-of-study fixed effects, the results do not change significantly.

Table 6

Transmission of field of study by within-family specification with 41 major CIP codes

(FSAM,S) − (FSAF,S)(FSAM,D) − (FSAF,D)
1212
(NFSHF) – (NFSHM)0.1530.014
0.0020.012
DFORC
1BaseBase
20.0330.027
0.0010.001
30.0350.163
0.0010.068
NFSHM0.1010.005
0.0010.023
NFSHF0.1620.021
0.0010.018
FORCM= 10.0160.016
0.0010.071
FORCF= 10.0510.029
0.0010.001
Constant0.0690.0260.0760.070
0.0010.0020.0010.001
Number of Obs.21,01821,01819,94219,942

[i] Notes: (1) Dependent variables are indicated in each column’s heading. (2) Standard errors reported under the coefficients are adjusted by using the two-way clustering method (Cameron et al., 2011) at the individual and household levels.

Table 7

Within-family specification for STEM parents with 41 major CIP codes

(FSAMS) − (FSAFS)(FSAMD) − (FSAFD)
Coef.Std. err.Coef.Std. err
NFSHM0.0790.0020.0010.370
NFSHF0.1610.0010.0200.019
STEM0.1510.0010.0190.176
STEM × NFSHM0.0420.1010.0370.306
STEM × NFSHF0.0370.0980.1030.423
FORCM= 10.0170.0010.0160.004
FORCF= 10.0420.0020.0270.001
Constant0.0270.0030.0730.003
Number of Obs.21,01819,942

[i] Notes: (1) Dependent variables are indicated in each column’s heading. (2) Standard errors are adjusted by using the two-way clustering method (Cameron et al., 2011) at the individual and household levels. Coef. = coefficient; Std. err. = standard error.

Language: English
Published on: Sep 16, 2020
Published by: Sciendo
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
JEL:
J1,
I2,

© 2020 Yigit Aydede, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.