![]() About 1,500 Swiss high school students took part in the survey. This enabled her to separate out the various factors in her analysis. But how do we know which of these considerations is the deciding factor for or against a subject for prospective students?Ĭombet chose a new approach for her study: instead of asking the participants about their interest in real subjects such as mathematics or psychology, she presented them with hypothetical fields of study that differed in specific ways-for example, in terms of the possibility of part-time work or the requirements for analytical thinking and emotional intelligence. ![]() For example, most STEM subjects involve a lot of math, require an affinity for technology, and can lead to high salaries, with part-time work in these fields (still) being rather rare. "The problem is that many of these field of study characteristics are simultaneously present," says study author Combet. Until now, researchers have struggled to conclusively answer the question of motives. ![]() A study by Benita Combet from the Department of Sociology at the University of Zurich has now shown that some of these ingrained beliefs do indeed influence people's subject choices. It is possible that socially embedded gender stereotypes play a role, such as: men think logically and in abstract terms, women are more creative men should be the breadwinners, women take care of the family men are competitive, women are more risk-averse. Why do so few female school leavers with good grades in mathematics choose to study a technical subject-despite the high salaries and good employment prospects in the STEM sector? This question has long preoccupied the social sciences, especially as studies show that girls and boys do equally well in mathematics at school.
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