 Does Personality Matter? Applying Holland's Typology to Analyze Students' Self-Selection into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics MajorsP. Daniel Chen and Patricia A. Simpson The Journal of Higher Education, 2015, vol. 86, issue 5, 725-750 Abstract: This study utilized John Holland's personality typology and the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to examine the factors that may affect students' self-selection into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. Results indicated that gender, race/ethnicity, high school achievement, and personality type were statistically significant factors in increasing or decreasing a student's odds of enrolling in a STEM major. Specifically, students with a strong investigative personality were more likely to enroll in STEM majors, while those with a strong artistic personality or enterprising personality were less likely to do so. Males with a strong social personality also tended not to choose STEM majors, though social personality had a positive effect on whether females chose STEM majors. Implications of the findings for policymakers, educators, and administrators were explored. Date: 2015 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:uhejxx:v:86:y:2015:i:5:p:725-750 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/00221546.2015.11777381 Access Statistics for this article The Journal of Higher Education is currently edited by Mitchell Chang More articles in The Journal of Higher Education from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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