Preferences or expectations: understanding the gender gap in major choice
利用正在选择专业的大学生的主观期望数据，研究专业选择如何受专业和职业属性影响，发现女性在偏好和期望上存在显著性别差异，尤其对课程享受和成绩的支付意愿是男性的两倍，且对科学和经济学成绩期望较低。
Abstract How do students decide what major to study and what explains the low enrolment of women in science and economics? Using data on the subjective expectations of undergraduate students who are in the process of selecting a major, we model major choice as a function of major-specific and job-specific attributes. We identify significant gender differences in the preferences for different attributes as well as in the expectations of future outcomes, especially of grades. Women are willing to pay twice as much as men for course enjoyment and higher grades, even as they expect lower grades in science and economics. This suggests that in addition to gender differences in preferences being shaped by pervasive norms about which subjects are considered more suitable for women, women also suffer from a relative confidence gap in their major-specific abilities.