Framing the Human Capital Investment Decision: Examining Gender Bias in Student Loan Borrowing

Suzanne Bartholomae (), D. Elizabeth Kiss (), Jesse B. Jurgenson (), Barbara O’Neill (), Sheri Lokken Worthy () and Jinhee Kim ()
Additional contact information
Suzanne Bartholomae: Iowa State University
D. Elizabeth Kiss: Kansas State University
Jesse B. Jurgenson: Iowa State University
Barbara O’Neill: Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Sheri Lokken Worthy: University of Georgia
Jinhee Kim: University of Maryland

Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 2019, vol. 40, issue 1, No 10, 132-145

Abstract: Abstract Recent literature suggests that the persistent gender wage gap, joined with a larger proportion of student loan debt, reduces the financial benefits of a college degree for women. Grounded in the theory of human capital and behavioral finance, this study investigates gender differences in student loan decisions using an experimental survey design with the online data collection. Participants (n = 1926) were randomly assigned to a treatment scenario about whether to enter college or the workforce that was manipulated by attribute frames of a gain, loss, or aspiration and varied by the gender of the character in a hypothetical scenario. The attribute frames did not influence the evaluation of student loan decisions. No significant gender differences were found in the evaluation of student loan borrowing or the experimental treatment scenarios, suggesting societal movement towards more gender-neutral attitudes regarding student loan borrowing and degree-seeking motivations.

Keywords: Student loans; Human capital; Gender; College investment; Higher education; College attendance; Framing; Prospect theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10834-018-9603-6 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:40:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10834-018-9603-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... es/journal/10834/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10834-018-9603-6

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Family and Economic Issues is currently edited by Joyce Serido

More articles in Journal of Family and Economic Issues from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().