Intended Majors and Career Interests: Men and Women Really Are from Different Planets

1. Intended Majors and Career Interests: Men and Women Really Are from Different Planets Debra FitzGerald Senior Consultant, Client Outreach ACT Midwest Region Tim Osborn Senior Consultant, Program Solutions ACT Midwest Region

2. Expressed and Measured Interests • With respect to intended majors and careers, ACT collects two types of information: • Expressed Interests: • When students register for the ACT they are asked to specify an intended major (from a choice of 295) and an occupational choice (from the same list of 295). • Measured Interests: • When students register for the ACT they are asked to complete a 72 item Interest Inventory that diagnoses their career interest and places the student’s interests on the ACT World of Work Map.

3. Goals of the Presentation • During the presentation we will look at differences in expressed and measured major and career interests between men and women • We will also look at how the gender differences correlate to student preferences for 4-year public and 4-year private institutions

4. Intended Majors by Male/Female Ratio and ACT Composite Score Bands • The first table shows majors where male and female interest is strongest • Red: females more than 50% more likely to have this intended major • Green: males more than 50% more likely to have this intended major • For convenience of reporting, the 295 individual majors are “rolled up” into 18 groupings of similar majors

5. Intended Major by Female/Male Ratio and ACT Composite Score Band

6. Intended Majors by Frequency • The next two tables show intended majors by frequency and ACT Composite Score bands • The percents are the comparative frequency within each score band (total N = 1,540,876) • The second table also shows majors where male and female interest is strongest • Light Red: females more than 50% more likely to have this intended major • Light Green: males more than 50% more likely to have this intended major

7. Red: >9% Green: <6% Intended Major by Column Frequency and ACT Composite Score Band

8. Intended Major by Column Frequency and ACT Composite Score Band & Strong Male/Female Interest

9. ACT Composite Scores by Gender • The next chart shows the percentage of men and women whose ACT Composite score falls in particular ability bands • More women than men test in total • Men are over-represented at the highest and lowest score bands • Women are over-represented at the middle ability levels • Thus, the ability bands with the most total tested students (ACT 16-24) have the largest gap between male and female testers: 10-13%.

10. ACT Composite by Gender and Ability Band

11. Intended Majors by 4-yr Public/Private Ratio and ACT Composite Score Bands • The next table shows majors by preferred institution type • Red: greater than a ratio of 1, 4-yr private more likely to have this intended major • Green: less than a ratio of 1, 4-yr publicmore likely to have this intended major

12. Intended Major by 4-year Priv/4-year Pub Ratio and ACT Comp. Score Band

13. Correlations by Gender and Institution Type Preference • Majority Male and 4-yr Public • Agric. & Natural Res Conservation (ACT 1-27) • Architecture (ACT 1-32) • Computer Science & Math • Engineering • Engineering Technology & Drafting • Repair, Production & Construction • Undecided (ACT 1-27)

14. Correlations by Gender and Institution Type Preference • Majority Female and 4-yr Public • Agric. & Natural Res Conservation (ACT 28-36) • Architecture (ACT 33-36) • Communications (ACT 33-36) • Community, Family & Personal Services • Education (ACT 24-26) • Health Administration & Assisting (ACT 1-32) • Health Sciences & Technologies

15. Correlations by Gender and Institution Type Preference • Majority Male and 4-yr Private • Area, Ethnic & Multidisciplinary (ACT 1-15; 20-23) • Arts: Visual & Performing (ACT 1-15) • Business (strong male; slightly more private) • Communications (ACT 1-15) • Philosophy, Religion & Theology

16. Correlations by Gender and Institution Type Preference • Majority Female and 4-yr Private • Area, Ethnic & Multidisciplinary (ACT 16-19; 24-36) • Arts: Visual and Performing (ACT 16-36) • Communications (ACT 16-32) • Education (ACT 1-23) • English & Foreign Languages • Sciences: Biological & Physical • Social Sciences & Law • Undecided (ACT 28-36)

17. Intended Major by Frequency and ACT Composite Score Band • The table on the next slide shows how student interest in intended major changes as ability level rises. • The columns labeled “1-15” and “33-36” show the relative rank from 1 to 18 of student interest in the majors in that grouping • The column labeled “Trend 1-36” shows how the ranks change from 1-15 to 33-36 and are sorted to show the groups that gain the most in frequency rank • You will note that the groups of majors that gain the most are the most math-intensive and reading-intensive

18. Intended Major by Frequency Rank and ACT Composite Score Band

19. ACT Interest Inventory andWorld of Work Map • The next part of the presentation shows data for the ACT Interest Inventory and World of Work Map Regions • Gender differences are highlighted as are differences among students preferring to attend 4-year public and 4-year private institutions

20. ACT World of Work Map

21. The ACT Interest Inventory measures six major types of interest. The six standard scores and percentile ranks are based on a nationally representative sample of grade 12 students. On the World-of-Work Map, region indicators help the student relate work activity preferences, as assessed by the ACT Interest Inventory, to groups of occupations. The World-of-Work Map appears on the back of the College Report.

22. Educational and Vocational Plans • A major and first vocational choice, selected by the student from an extensive list of educational majors and vocational choices - VERY SURE, FAIRLY SURE, or NOT SURE. • Student's ultimate degree objective from among the following: • BUS/TECH CERTIFICATE—vocational/technical or certificate program • ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE (2 YR)—two-year college degree • BACHELOR'S DEGREE (4 YR)—bachelor's degree program • GRAD STUDY/MASTER'S LEVEL—one or two years of graduate study (MA, MBA, etc.) • DOCTORATE/PROF DEGREE—professional level degree (PhD, MD, JD, etc.) • OTHER

23. Interest Inventory by Male/Female Ratioand ACT Comp. Score Bands • The next table shows Map Regions where male and female interest is strongest • Red: females more than 50% more likely to be in this Map Region • Green: males more than 50% more likely to be in this Map Region

24. Interest Inventory by Female/Male Ratio and ACT Composite Score Band

25. Selected Careers in Map Regions where Female Interest is Strongest: People & Ideas; People & Data • Map Region 1 (ACT 1-15) • Human resources management & training • Map Region 2 (1-15) • Marketing & sales • Map Region 9 (ACT 16-23) • Medical technologies • Map Region 10 • Applied arts (visual); medical diagnosis & treatment; social science • Map Region 11 • Applied arts (written & spoken); creative & performing arts • Map Region 12 • Community services; education; health care

26. Selected Careers in Map Regions where Male Interest is Strongest: Data & Things; (Things & Ideas) • Map Region 4 (ACT 1-23) • Financial transactions; communications & records • Map Region 5 (1-27) • Distribution & dispatching • Map Region 6 • Ag/forestry & related; transport operation & related; computer/info specialties • Map Region 7 (ACT 24-32) • Construction & maintenance; mechanical & electrical specialties; crafts & related; manufacturing & processing

27. Map Regions by 4-yr Public/Private Colleges Ratio and ACT Composite Score Bands • The next table shows Map Regions by preferred institution type • Red: greater than a ratio of 1, 4-yr private more likely to be in this Map Region • Green: less than a ratio of 1, 4-yr publicmore likely to be in this Map Region

28. Interest Inventory by 4-year Priv/4-year Pub Ratio and ACT Comp. Score Band

29. Map Regions by Frequency • The next three tables shows Map Regions by frequency and ACT Composite Score bands • The percents listed are the comparative frequency within each score band (total N = 1,375,273) • The tables also show Map Regions where male and female interest is strongest (also 2-yr) • Red: >9% of students in an ability band • Green: <6% of students in an ability band

30. Red: >9% Green: <6% Interest Inventory by Column Frequency and ACT Composite Score BandFemale Students

31. Red: >9% Green: <6% Interest Inventory by Column Frequency and ACT Composite Score BandMale Students

32. Red: >9% Green: <6% Interest Inventory by Column Frequency and ACT Composite Score Band2-Yr Public Students

33. Summary of Data on Measured & Expressed Interests & Preferred Inst. Type

34. Conclusions • Male and female students have clearly different patterns of intended majors and Interest Inventory Map Regions • As ability levels rise, students choose intended majors that are more math & reading intensive • On the Interest Inventory, female students predominant in the two “people areas”: people and ideas & people and data • On the Interest Inventory, male students predominant in the two “things areas”: data and things & things and ideas

35. Conclusions (continued) • Students preferring 4-yr publics are predominant in Map Regions 3-7 (data and things) • Students preferring 4-yr privates are predominant in Map Regions 8-2 (ideas and people) • The differences between 4-yr public and private not as strong as differences between male and female

36. Implications • Students choosing selective public and private universities seem to have intended majors and interests that fit mission of those schools • Students choosing regional publics and 2-yr publics seem to have intended majors and interests that fit mission of those schools

37. Implications (continued) • What about non-selective liberal arts colleges, especially those looking for more men? • There may be potential mismatches between ability level of enrolled students and interest in liberal arts areas • Male students at middle and lower ability levels more tuned to 4-yr public and less tuned to liberal arts majors • Non-selective privates may enroll more students primarily choosing institution for non-academic reasons: involvement in athletics, other activities, environment, small classes, academic support, etc.

38. A Word about the Relationship between Ability, Majors, and Interest Inventory • ACT calculates a “Fit Index” to measure the congruence between intended major and Interest Inventory Scores • Students at lower ability levels have less congruence than students at higher ability levels • Put differently, higher ability students may be making more thoughtful and appropriate choices

39. Major Enhancement to the ACT Electronic Record • Beginning in September 2012, ACT will begin appending 5 new data elements to the ACT Score Report: • Interest-Major Fit score • Four predictive modeling indexes

40. The Interest-Major Fit Index • The Fit score shows the strength of the relationship between a student’s profile of interests and the profile of interests of students in a given major. • Interest-major fit clearly benefits both students and the college they attend: students in “good-fit majors” are more likely to stay in college, stay in their major and finish sooner.

41. Predicting Enrollment Behavior with Four Indexes • The Mobility Index predicts the likelihood of a student enrolling at an out-of-state institution • The Institution Type Index predicts the likelihood of a student enrolling at a private institution • The Selectivity Index predicts the selectivity of the institution at which the student is likely to enroll • The Institution Size Index predicts the size of the institution at which the student is likely to enroll

42. Variables Included in the Four Indexes

43. Debra FitzGerald Senior Consultant, Client Outreach ACT Midwest Region Lincolnshire, IL 847-634-2560 debra.fitzgerald@act.org Tim Osborn Senior Consultant, Program Solutions ACT Midwest Region Lincolnshire, IL 847-634-2560 tim.osborn@act.org