Men have a 3.60 times higher risk than women of majoring in PEMC sciences and a 0.74 times lower risk of majoring in health fields, with predicted PEMC probabilities of 14.9% for men versus 4.7% for women¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2017 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2022: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Gender strongly influences choice of PEMC and health science majors in opposite directions: men's risk of majoring in PEMC is 3.60 times women's, and their risk of majoring in health fields is 0.74 times women's; predicted PEMC probabilities are 14.9% (men) versus 4.7% (women). → Perez-Felkner L 2017
Evidence¶
Perez-Felkner L 2017¶
Perez-Felkner L, Nix S and Thomas K (2017) Gendered Pathways: How Mathematics Ability Beliefs Shape Secondary and Postsecondary Course and Degree Field Choices. Front. Psychol. 8:386. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00386
q3 · i? · associational · r2
Multinomial logistic regression full models of major choice two years after secondary school, estimated on the ELS analytic sample; these results are each reported as highly significant (p < 0.001). Predicted probabilities put women's PEMC chance at 4.7% versus men's 14.9%, a 10.2 percentage-point decrease from being female.
"men have a 3.60 times higher risk of majoring in PEMC sciences as compared to women and a 0.74 times lower risk than women of majoring in health fields."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Growth mindset interacts with gender for health major choice — men's chances decline 3.9 percentage points per unit increase — but no gender difference appears in how ability beliefs influence PEMC major choice — related
- Girls' likelihood of majoring in PEMC is 3.1 times greater at the highest versus lowest value of 12th grade perceived mathematics ability under challenge (5.6% vs. 1.8%) — related
- A one standard deviation increase in 10th grade perceived mathematics ability under challenge corresponds to a 1.62 times higher risk of staying in the natural sciences rather than never entering these fields in college — related
- Women tend to shy away from competition, contributing to gender gaps in math-related educational choices — related
- Boys rate their mathematics ability under challenge significantly higher than girls at every level of observed mathematics ability, including the highest (p < 0.001) — related
- Tenth grade perceived mathematics ability under challenge is the most influential predictor of advanced high school science course completion, and girls have 24.0% lower odds than boys of completing the most advanced science courses — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
gender-gap-pemc-versus-health-major-selection |
title |
Men have a 3.60 times higher risk than women of majoring in PEMC sciences and a 0.74 times lower risk of majoring in health fields, with predicted PEMC probabilities of 14.9% for men versus 4.7% for women |
description |
Men have a 3.60 times higher risk than women of majoring in PEMC sciences and a 0.74 times lower risk of majoring in health fields, with predicted PEMC probabilities of 14.9% for men versus 4.7% for women |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2017 |
recheck_by |
2022 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-17 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — perez-felkner-l-2017 |
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