Gender Differences in the Returns to Double Majoring: A Case of Signaling?

Andrew Smith, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes and Maria Zhu

Working Papers from U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies

Abstract: Over 15 percent of college graduates in the United States graduate with more than one major. While much research exists on the returns to different individual majors, less is known about the causal effects of double majoring. This study provides novel estimates on the returns to those who choose to double major as an undergraduate. We improve on previous studies that rely on controls for observable characteristics by addressing selection concerns in two notable ways. First, we control for institution-specific differences that may influence both the decision to double major and subsequent earnings using proprietary data by including institution fixed effects. Second, we adopt a partial identification approach to address non-random selection into double majoring within institutions. Results broadly align with estimates from prior studies at the aggregate level, but reveal notable gender differences not previously detected. Women experience an earnings return to double majoring of approximately 5 percent, while the return for men is statistically negligible. Our analysis suggests that this discrepancy is consistent with double majors serving as a signaling effect in the labor market, which may help offset the gender pay gap.

Keywords: double majoring; returns to education; gender wage gap; labor market signaling; human capital; college major choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I26 J16 J24 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-gen
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https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2026/adrm/ces/CES-WP-26-60.pdf First version, 2026 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cen:wpaper:26-60

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