How Gender, Culture, and Economy Influence Field of Study Preferences in Higher Education: Exploring Gender Gaps in STEM, AHSS, and Medicine among International Students

Corina Florina Tătar, Marius Ioan Tătar (), János Pénzes and George W. White
Additional contact information
Corina Florina Tătar: Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, University of Oradea, Str. Universității nr. 1, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Marius Ioan Tătar: Department of Political Science and Communication Sciences, University of Oradea, Str. Universității nr. 1, Campus II, C55 Building, 410087 Oradea, Romania
János Pénzes: Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
George W. White: Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences, South Dakota State University, 1025 Medary Ave, Brookings, SD 57006, USA

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: International female and male students’ segregation per academic fields of study designates an important challenge for educational equity, diversity, and gender equality in tertiary education institutions worldwide. This study probes the determinants of study field choice among 984 students from 57 countries who enrolled at the University of Oradea, Romania, during 2022–2023. By incorporating gender approaches and concepts within broader economic and cultural theories, we utilized the bivariate analysis and multinominal regression models to scrutinize how students’ preferences for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), AHSS (arts, humanities, and social sciences), or medicine are influenced by their gender, and the more general cultural and economic attributes of their home country. Our findings enrich the knowledge and understanding of gendered patterns of academic study field choice, providing a cross-cultural and integrative viewpoint that enables us to set forth recommendations to bridge higher education gender gaps.

Keywords: gender equality; gender gap; higher education; field of study; international students; STEM; AHSS; medicine; Romania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/22/15820/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/22/15820/ (text/html)

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:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:22:p:15820-:d:1277670

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().