Women are more likely to choose fields of study in so-called people-centered fields, while men are more likely to choose fields of study in technical, math-intensive, and fact-oriented fields, which in turn reinforces gender stereotypes and results in inequalities in future careers.
Attempts to overcome this gender segregation in fields of study are usually aimed at encouraging more female students to choose a “male profession” and a corresponding course of study. However, a study by Prof. Dr. Marita Jacob and colleagues from the Institute for Sociology and Social Psychology (ISS) and the Berlin Science Center for Social Research (WZB) shows than men are a target group as well. As part of an experimental study on an intensive guidance counseling program for high school graduates in North Rhine-Westphalia with 625 participants, it was shown that the effect of the program on men's choice of a gender-atypical subject was particularly strong.
For male students, guidance counseling promoted the choice of gender-atypical subjects by around 16 percentage points, while in the control group only around 13% of male students had chosen gender-atypical subjects. The program not only increased enrollment in gender-atypical fields of study, but could also reduce the so-called revolving door effect, in which students drop out of gender-atypical fields. The perceived fit between person and subject of study as well as study satisfaction were significantly positively influenced.
In the long term, the increased choice of less male-dominated study programs by young men could certainly improve gender equality, according to the researchers. On the one hand, a more balanced gender composition in previously female-dominated areas could lead to a higher appreciation of these areas, which could lead to higher income. In addition, gender stereotypes could be reduced in the medium term, which could have positive effects on women's decisions to take up studies that were previously male-dominated.