EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Preferred field of study and academic performance

Francesco Berlingieri, André Diegmann (geb. Nolte) and Maresa Sprietsma

Economics of Education Review, 2023, vol. 95, issue C

Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of studying the first-choice university subject on dropout and switching field of study for a cohort of students in Germany. Using detailed survey data, and employing an instrumental variable strategy based on variation in the local field of study availability, we provide evidence that students who are not enrolled in their preferred field of study are more likely to change their field, delay graduation and drop out of university. The estimated impact on dropout is particularly strong among students of low socio-economic status and is likely to be driven by lower effort and motivation.

Keywords: Field of study; Preferences; Academic performance; University dropout (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I23 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775723000560
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
Working Paper: Preferred field of study and academic performance (2022) Downloads
Working Paper: Preferred field of study and academic performance (2022) Downloads
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:eee:ecoedu:v:95:y:2023:i:c:s0272775723000560

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102409

Access Statistics for this article

Economics of Education Review is currently edited by E. Cohn

More articles in Economics of Education Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().

 
Page updated 2025-05-17
Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:95:y:2023:i:c:s0272775723000560