Choosing Business as a College Major: A Survey of High School Students

Full text

Fall 2014 11
Choosing Business as a College Major:
A Survey of High School Students
Neil Granitz, Steven Chen and Kerrit K. Kohli
California St. U. Fullerton, California St. U. Fullerton, Diamond Bar High School
Choosing a college major can be the most important decision high school
students make. It has significant implications for their professional
careers. Interestingly, the behavior of high school students in choosing
business as their major has never been studied. In this paper, we surveyed
high school students to understand their decision making process. Our
findings show that the decision process starts rather early, in high school.
The choice is primarily made by the students, but they rely extensively on
parents and family for information, and are heavily influenced by them.
They choose majors that offer rewarding careers and require skills that
match their strengths. Understanding this process also allow the
discipline and universities to better design and market their programs to
attract students.
Keywords: Choice of Major, Choice of College, Enrollment in
Higher Education, Timing of College Decision, Business
Majors Higher Education Decision
Disciplines of Interest: All Business Disciplines
INTRODUCTION
Each year, over 3 million students in the U.S. graduate from high school.
Seventy percent of these students will enroll in colleges [NCES 2013]. Statistics
from the Higher Education Research Institute demonstrate that the percentage of
college freshmen who plan to major in business is falling [HERI 2012]. Although
it appears to have stabilized over the past two years, since 2008 the number of
freshmen who plan to major in business has fallen from 18% to 14.4% in 2012, the
lowest percentage since 1974, when 14% of college freshmen chose business as
their major. HERI data is conducted with a sample of college freshmen.
In an effort to better understand college students= choice of major, numerous
perspectives have been adopted. Analyzing general models, several researchers
have studied inputs such as gender, personality, income, academic ability, parental
characteristics, influence of significant others, and desired outcomes, such as
enjoying coursework and job satisfaction [Beffy, Fougere and Maurel, 2012;

12 Journal of the Academy of Business Education
Cohen and Hanno, 1993; Paolillo and Estes, 1982; Stinebrickner and
Stinebrickner, 2009; Zafar 2011]. Others have developed models based upon
financial and economic theory, such as comparative advantage, and risk and
returns to investments [Betts, 1996; Paglin and Rufolo, 1990]. Still, others have
adopted an information processing model, viewing the college major choice as
continuous, where students update their choice as they receive more information
[Altonji, 1993; Arcidiacono, 2004; Zafir, 2011]. Assigning context to the choice of
major, several researchers have also studied choice of university, where quality,
cost and investment have been identified as key drivers (Avery and Hoxby, 2004;
Montgomery, 2002).
While a few studies concentrate on business [Pritchard, Potter and Saccucci,
2004; Kim, Markham and Cangelosi, 2002], the majority of research focuses on all
college majors. Additionally, across the board, the samples chosen have always
been current college students, and not high school students, who may be forming
their initial preferences for a particular major. While we know that 70% of high
school students enroll in secondary institutions, there is no research uncovering
why and how they choose business as a major.
Specifically, the objectives of this study are to understand the process that high
school students go through in choosing business and its sub-disciplines as a major.
This research will determine:
1) Why and when high school students choose business as major;
2) What sources of information they use in making their decisions of whether
to pursue business as a major;
3) The factors that influence their choice of business as a major;
4) The factors that influence their choice of a university for a business major.
This study is significant for several reasons. First, it makes a unique
contribution to the research dialogue; ours is the first study that surveys high
school students on their choice of a business major and it is a comprehensive
investigation of the con-sumer behavior process in choosing a business major.
Second, as we are determining if and when high schools students make the major
decision, the findings of this research can inform business college recruiters when
to approach potential majors. Third, we will identify the specific beliefs that lead a
potential major to choose a business major versus other majors. This will allow
business college recruiters to focus on modifying incorrect beliefs that are turning
business majors away and accentuate correct beliefs that are attracting majors.
Third, research demonstrates that students are highly likely to change majors once
they have completed some college studies. By understanding the beliefs they hold
when they choose a major, we can better understand why they change majors once
they are in college.

Fall 2014 13
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this section, we will first discuss general reasons for going to college,
followed by a review of the different streams of research on students= choice of
major. We will then concentrate on the studies that research the choice of business
as a major and how students choose a university.
General Trends
Due to negative economic trends of the past 5 years, students have focused on
job-related reasons to go to college. Eighty-eight percent of students go to college
in order to get a better job. Seventy-five percent of students go to college to make
money. As a personal goal, Abeing very well off financially@ rose to an all-time
high in 2012, with 81.0% of incoming students reporting this as Avery important@
or Aessential@, up from 79.6% in 2011. Other reasons students go to college are to
gain a general education and for appreciation of ideas (73%) [HERI, 2012].
In choosing a major, Business is the largest block at 14.4% of incoming
students. The next three chosen majors are Health (14.1%), Biological Sciences
(12.6%) and Engineering (10.4%). Within the business major, the larger
concentrations are General Business (20%), Accounting (16%), Marketing (15%),
Management (15%), Finance (11.8%), and International Business (11.8%) [HERI,
2012].
General Models and Specific Factors Predicting Choice of Major
Cohen and Hanno [1993] use the cognitive based theory of planned behavior
to examine students= choice of major. This theory posits that the intention to
perform a behavior is influenced by a personal evaluation of the effect of the
behavior (e.g., having a career in a field of interest), social pressure to perform the
behavior (e.g., complying with referents such as family and friends), as well as the
perceived control over the performance of the behavior (e.g., workload of a major).
They found high correlations among all three components in terms of predicting
intention to major, with r above. 6; and intention was highly correlated with actual
behavior. Test subjects were university students who had declared and had not
declared their major. Since then, scholars have expanded on these factors.
The economic literature on decisions generally assumes that, in situations of
uncertainty, individuals make (often incorrect) assumptions about themselves,
compare possible outcomes and then choose the outcome that maximizes their
expected returns. This model is applicable to choice of major. Arcidiacono, Holts,
and Kang [2012] found that students sort into different majors based on expected
earnings and perceived abilities, with abilities playing a greater role than expected
income stream. Beffy, Fougere and Maurel [2012], and Zafar [2011] studied
students expected returns to investment across various majors. They found that

14 Journal of the Academy of Business Education
there is very small but significant variation due to pecuniary factors and
non-pecuniary factors such as preference and abilities are stronger determinants of
major choice. Pecuniary, followed by non-pecuniary factors, are discussed below.
Attanasio and Kaufmann [2009] found that perceptions of earnings and
employment risk are important predictors of college attendance decisions and
depend mainly upon subjective expected returns to college; however, this is
trumped by credit constraints in paying for college. Additionally, substantial
differences in lifetime earnings would be necessary to draw students into areas of
study that they did not consider [Boudarbat and Montmarquette, 2009].
Interestingly, students may differ in their subjective expectations of what they
would expect to earn in different majors and in different careers; this may be a
result of different information that the students are receiving about the various
careers and the availability of employment in those fields.
Expanding outcomes beyond expected earnings, Zafar [2011] established that
outcomes such as enjoying coursework, finding fulfillment in potential jobs, and
gaining the approval of parents are the most important factors in choosing a
college major. There are significant differences between males and females. On
the whole, non-pecuniary determinants are crucial in explaining the choices for
both males and females; however, males and females differ in their preferences in
the workplace: Males value pecuniary aspects of the future workplace, while
females value non-pecuniary aspects in the future workplace. Non-monetary out-
comes of college explain 80% of the choice of major for females, while expected
monetary outcomes in the workplace explain 80% of the choice for males.
Reconciling family and enjoying work at the available jobs are second in terms of
importance to females, but of least importance to males. Additionally, gaining
parents= approval and enjoying coursework are important outcomes for females but
not males [Zafar, 2009]. In this study the sample was undergraduate students.
Paglin and Rufolo [1990] found that comparative advantage in abilities
influences the observed choice for college major. Variation in mathematical or
quantitative abilities yield high returns while variation in verbal abilities are
unimportant in terms of explaining choice of major [Arcidiacono 2004]. Students
will sort themselves among the various occupations according to the amount of
ability that they perceive they have. GRE scores show that there is consistency in
the types of characteristics of students choosing different majors. Those with high
quantitative scores choose areas like math, engineering, physics and astronomy.
Those with high verbal skills choose fields like English, Anthropology, and
History.
Information Processing Models
Some students begin college knowing their major, others are undecided, and
still, many whom have declared their major may change. According to the
Chronicle of Higher Education [2001], 15% of entering freshmen believe that

Fall 2014 15
there is a good chance that they will change their college major and 8% are
undecided. Recent studies place this much higher. At Penn State, 80% of freshmen
C even those who have declared a major C say they are uncertain about their
major, and half expect to change their minds after they declare.
These changes in majors may be due to new information that the student
receives. After beginning the major, data shows that upon learning more about
their abilities, interests, job and career opportunities, level of challenge of their
major, as well as exposure to other majors through introductory courses, students
revise their beliefs in meaningful ways [Zafar, 2011]. Over time, as new
information arrives, they may choose to drop out of college or switch to a different
major that they deem to be a better fit [Manski, 1989; Altonji, 1993; Arcidiacono,
2004; Stinebrickner and Stinebrickner, 2009].
Arcidiacono [2004] developed a model demonstrating that students go through
four periods of decision. In Period 1, students can choose their actual college and
major or whether to enter the workforce. In Period 2, those who chose the
schooling option receive new information about their abilities and re-think the
major they have chosen and remain with the current major or switch to a new
major or drop out and enter the labor market. Interestingly, while business majors
drop out at the same rate as natural science majors, the math and verbal abilities of
business major dropouts are substantially lower than their science counterparts but
on par with social science and humanities. In these abilities, Education is
significantly below all other majors.
Another reason for such a high level of change may be the broadening choices
of majors available to students. Colleges and universities reported nearly 1,500
academic programs to the Department of Education in 2010. As colleges move to
include more programs and remain more relevant and students try to hedge their
value, the number of bachelor degrees awarded with double majors has risen 70
percent between 2001 and 2011 [Simon, 2012; Snyder and Dillow, 2009].
Choosing a Business Major
The data on students choosing a business major echoes the general data
discussed above. Malgwi, Howe, and Burnaby [2005] surveyed 788 undergraduate
students who had already chosen business as a major. The most influential factor
was interest in the major, followed by potential for career advancement, the
majors= potential job opportunities and the desire to run a business someday. Other
important factors included aptitude, level of pay in the field, and the college=s
reputation in the field.
Strasser, Ozgur, and Schroeder [2002] use the analytic hierarchy process to
determine the factors students take into account when choosing a business major.
The criteria modeled were career, influence of others and interest in subject.
Students valued Ainterest@ more greatly than influence or career, challenging the
stereotype that business students are in it for the money. Additionally, interest was

16 Journal of the Academy of Business Education
a stronger influence for those in Marketing and Management than Finance,
Decision Science or Accounting. This model accurately predicted 88% of the
students= first choice of major. The sample was sophomores and seniors. In the
context of accounting majors, Mauldin, Crain, and Mounce [2000] asked students
to rate the most important influence; instructors were rated highest.
Within the business school, choice of major may also be driven by personality
traits, values and interpersonal behavior. Noel, Michaels, and Levas [2003] studied
demographics, personality traits and self-monitoring behavior across Marketing,
MIS and Accounting. A personality trait is defined as a distinguishing, relative
enduring way in which one individual differs from another [Cattell, 1970].
Self-monitoring behavior refers to the degree to which a person observes and
controls their expressive behavior and self-presentation in accord with social cues
[Gould, 1993]. In terms of personality, compared to Accounting students,
Marketing and MIS students score significantly higher on emotional orientation to
other people, are more easygoing, higher on creativity, enjoy attention, taking
risks, and seek out high stimulus situations. Basically, Accounting students prefer
to stay where life is concrete, predictable and safe. Of the three groups, MIS had a
relaxed level of introversion, while Marketing and Accounting recognized a need
to be more extroverted. In self-monitoring behaviors, Accounting students were
less likely to control the impressions they made on others or portray a deliberate
image. No differences were found across demographics (age, gender, regional
differences). Subsequent research determined that students with greater quantita-
tive skills tend to major in Accounting and Finance while those with weaker skills
major in Marketing and Management [Pritchard, et al., 2004]. This is com-
plementary to research from Cohen and Hanno [1993] showing that other business
majors stay away from accounting because it is too quantitative and boring.
Choosing a University
Researchers have also studied how students choose universities, and the
findings are wide ranging. Avery and Hoxby [2004] applied a conditional logit
model and found that cost and institutional quality were key aspects. In another
study involving middle and high school students, Cabrera and La Nasa [2000],
discovered that educational aspirations, occupational aspiration, socioeconomic
status, student ability, parental encouragement, perceived institutional attributes,
and perceived ability to pay were factors. As students get older, the rank import-
ance of these various factors change. Montgomery [2002] found significant effects
for cost, location (proximity to home), and school quality. Other factors found
include course suitability, academic reputation, job prospects, teaching quality,
class size, placement in rankings, offering high levels of non-academic student
services and scholarships [Drewes and Michael, 2006; Soutar and Turner, 2002].
Perceived future earnings also impact students= choice in college campus
[Attanasio and Kaufmann 2009]. For instance, institutional characteristics such as

Fall 2014 17
Aselectivity@ and Aprivate-east@ have positive relationship with future earnings, and
thus on student choice [James, et al., 2001]. In the long-run it is a good investment
for students to go to private, eastern colleges, or alternately, to attend a local state
university to attain a high GPA.
However, the role of the parents in students= choice of college is inconclusive.
On the one hand, Bers and Galowich [2002] show that parents play a significant
role in students= choice of community college; meanwhile, other researchers show
that the university choice is mainly the students= decision [Attanasio and
Kaufmann, 2009]. Especially, in minority ethnic groups, the parents= role is
diminished due to their unfamiliarity with the college choice process [Ceja, 2006].
In summation, the data on Achoice of major and college@ is fairly consistent.
Key factors that contribute to choice of major are personal interests, abilities,
personality, enjoyment, career potential, salary and influence of referents. For
college, it is cost, location and quality. This review also establishes where further
research is needed. With the exception of one study on choice college, all student
subjects in the above studies are already in college, with most having completed
their first year. If we refer to the fourBstep model developed by Arcidiacono
[2004], these students are already in the second phase where they receive more
information about their abilities and about the major and its ensuing careers. High
school students would still be in the first Aidealistic@ phase and that has never been
captured. Additionally, we would get a better understanding of when students start
thinking about their major. Finally, there is very little information on what other
majors students take into account when considering a business major. Thus this
research will uncover when and how high school students choose their college
major, when Business is in the consideration set.
METHOD AND DATA COLLECTION
An online survey was developed. Questions focused on when students started
thinking about their major, when and if they had chosen a major, sources of
information and influence, as well as variables that were important to students
when choosing the major and college. These variables were based upon a review
of previous research; thus independent and dependent measures were adopted
[Aricidiacono, et al., 2011; Noel, et al., 2003; Strasser, et al., 2002; Zafar, 2011].
As our major research objective was to understand why and when high school
students choose business as a major, we required high school students who had
already started considering business as a possible major. A contact list of high
school students was not available. We therefore requested our interviewers to
personally identify respondents who were seniors in high school, which resulted in
a sample that was predominantly based out of the Greater Los Angeles area. We
realize that this may have created a bias in the sample because of a lack of
geographical representativeness. The survey link was then shared with these
students. Respondents were then further qualified at the beginning of the survey to

18 Journal of the Academy of Business Education
ensure that they had "started thinking about" the major they would like to pursue
and had "considered business as a possible major (among others)." One hundred
and fifty respondents completed the survey. Fifty-three percent were males and
47% were females. Three percent were African Americans; 30% were Caucasians;
44% were Asian Americans, reflecting their higher concentration in Southern
California; 18% were Hispanics; and 5% were "others."
RESULTS
Of the 248 students who qualified as high school seniors, 94% had already
started thinking about their major. Of these 248 respondents, 150 qualified on the
basis of the other two criteria specified above. Considering that the survey data
was collected early in the Spring semester of their senior year, it is fair to say that
almost all students decide a major by the end of their high school senior year.
Some of them (as we will see later) are likely to change their mind, but they have
given serious consideration as high school seniors. Of these, 12% did so even
before they entered high school; but a significant majority (88%) were in high
school when they started thinking about the major they'd like to pursue in college.
Sixty-three of the students were either in their senior year (27%) or junior year
(37%) when they started making this decision. This relatively early period
underscores the importance of surveying them on this decision during their high
school, rather than college years to collect data that is likely to be more accurate.
As a rule, most students started thinking of their major in their high school years.
Of the ones we surveyed, 22% had not finalized their major at the time of the
survey. The vast majority (61%) finalized it in their senior year. Only 10%
finalized the same in their junior year; 5% in sophomore year; and 1% each in their
freshman year and before starting high school. This paints a relatively clear picture
that while most students start thinking about their major throughout their high
school years, the decision is made closer to the end of their senior year.
We saw further evidence of their decisiveness when they were asked about the
likelihood of changing their majors. Only one respondent chose "very likely" and
27% said they were "somewhat likely." Most (73%) were likely to stick with their
choice. Of the ones who had not chosen a major, almost two thirds (65%) did so
because they were not sure of what they wanted; one third (33%) felt there was no
need to make the decision by the time the survey was completed. (It is worth
noting that the survey was completed in the middle of the spring semester of their
senior year, so they had some more time left in their academic year to make that
decision.) About one out of seven (15%) felt that they did not have enough
knowledge about the majors to be able to make a decision.
These students were also focused in their choices, with only 5% keeping their
decision open with more than three choices. Ninety-five percent limited their
decision to one (19%), two (53%) or three (23%) options, which goes against the
generally held belief that most high school students are not sure about the major

Fall 2014 19
Table 1. Utilization of Various Sources of Information
they would like to pursue. Students in our sample seemed to have narrowed down
their choices. Interestingly, most (60%) did not limit themselves to a business
major, but kept a wider set of options (60%). A review of open ended comments
often showed business majors clubbed with non-business majors, such as
Management with History and Acting. Quantitative fields of Finance and
Accounting were often clubbed together and sometimes with other quantitative
fields such as Math, Com-puters Science and Information Systems; whereas the
seemingly non-quantitative fields such as Marketing in Business often clubbed
together with Entrepreneurship and International Business; and almost never with
heavily quantitative fields. However, this information was quite varied and no
clear conclusions could be drawn.
Interestingly, even though students included non-business majors as options,
of the ones who did choose a major, only 22% ended up choosing a non-business
major. This seems to suggest that even though they cast their net rather wide, 78%
of the student who consider a business major actually end up choosing one.
Family and parents were by far the most extensively used "sources of
information" (with a mean of 3.71 on a 5-point scale), followed by teachers (3.14),
college websites (3.00), and friends and peers (2.93). College fairs (2.56) and
"search based information on the Internet" (2.73) were least used, and so were
school counselors (2.74) and third party websites dedicated to college admissions
(2.76) (See Table 1 for additional details). In summary, individuals who have

20 Journal of the Academy of Business Education
Table 2. Factors Influencing the Choice of Major
regular interaction with the students (family, teachers, and peers) are also the most
extensively used sources of information. On the Internet, students are more likely
to seek information by going directly to the websites of the colleges of their choice.
Other promotional methods were not as effective.
The decision to choose a major is primarily that of the students themselves
(70%) and only 30% were significantly influenced by others. This has implications
on what colleges should focus on in their efforts to reach the students. To the
extent others influenced their decision, family and parents were the dominant
influencers (3.57 on a 5-point scale) followed at a distance by friends and peers
(2.71), teachers (2.65) and school counselors (2.39) (See Table 2 for details). The
degree of influence reflects closely the extent to which many of the sources of
information were used.
We assessed the importance of several factors in the choice of a major. The
more important factors related to careers that were monetarily rewarding (high
earning potential, monetarily rewarding, respectable) and suits their skills set
(subjects and content that I like, has content in which I tend to excel). A detailed
listing of the importance ratings are provided in Table 3. However, considering the
large number of attributes that were evaluated, we conducted a (principal
components) factor analysis, resulting in a five factor solution, which explained

Fall 2014 21

22 Journal of the Academy of Business Education
67% of the variance. The rotated component matrix is presented in Table 4. The
five factors that emerged were (in order of the variance captured) "Monetary
Rewards and Prestige," "Interesting Content," "Appropriate for My Skills,"
"Meaningful Career," and "Challenging Career."
We then asked questions about the choice of a university and how that
interacts with the choice of a major. Respondents were keener on pursuing a
specific major (52%) rather than choosing a specific university (48%), but this
priority can only be considered marginal at best.
In choosing a university, the most important factors were the cost of
attending the college (4.03 on a 5-point scale), the promise of monetarily reward
careers (4.02), prestige of the academic programs (4.01), and academic ranking
of the university (3.96). What the campus and the university had to offer beyond
the academic programs was far less important. Please see Table 5 for additional
details. Interestingly, the most important attributes in the choice of a major or
university is the promise of a financially rewarding career.
Since many different attributes were used, we conducted factor analysis to
identify key drivers of university choice. A principal component analysis resulted
in a four factor solution, which captured 76% of the variance. The four factors
that were identified included "Program Quality," Campus Offerings," "Sports
Program," and "Accessibility." The rotated component matrix identifying the
loading on the four factors is presented in Table 6.
To get a more in-depth understanding, we did sub-group analysis based on
gender and respondents' plans to limit themselves to business majors. For most
part, we did not find any significant differences in this subgroup analysis on the
factors that impact their choice of a major and a university. This may partly be
because of the (relatively) small size of the subsamples, which may have shielded
the significance in differences between these subgroups. That said, some
interesting differences did emerge (that were significant at 0.05 level). Females
looked for "a career that is very fulfilling" (4.31 on a 5-point scale; vs. 3.92 for
males) in the choice of a major, whereas males wanted "career opportunities that
allow extensive use of technology" (3.78 vs. 3.39). Students limited themselves
to a business major also showed some differences, compared to those who
considered other majors. Students in the latter group wanted "a career that has
more meaning for me" (4.37 on a 5-point scale vs. 3.91); "a career that is very
fulfilling for me" (4.23 vs. 3.86); a major that "requires skills that come naturally
to me" (4.27 vs. 4.00); "has subjects and content that I like" (4.47 vs. 3.91); "has
content in which I tend to excel" (4.31 vs. 4.00); and "offers an exciting career"
(4.21 vs. 3.77).
Summary of Findings
The overall picture that emerges is one of students taking this decision very
seriously, starting the decision making process as early as before entering high

Fall 2014 23
Table 4. Factor Analysis: Rotated Component Matrix
for Choice of a Major

24 Journal of the Academy of Business Education

Fall 2014 25
Table 6. Factor Analysis: Rotated Component Matrix
for Choice of a University
Component
Program
Quality Campus
Offerings Sports Accessibilit
y
Variance Captured 38% 16% 13% 9%
Academic ranking of the 866 133 .039 -.024
Prestige of its academic programs 875 180 .004 -.030
Challenging curriculum 748 197 .101 -.109
Promises monetarily rewarding 690 .008 .188 .314
Location close to where I live -.031 -.026 .057 .906
Cost of attending college .046 .450 -.023 .783
Campus facilities .432 .414 .236 .346
Availability of loans .165 .877 .180 .083
Availability of scholarships .143 .880 .114 .156
Availability of cultural programs .195 .680 .330 .038
Availability of sports programs .128 .276 .913 .054
Prestige of its sports programs .091 .191 .941 .026
school (although most do so during high school) and most of them finalizing this
decision before they finish high school. They rely heavily on their parents and
family members for learning about the schools, who also happen to be heavy
influencers in their decisions. That said, for most of them the final decision is
made by the students themselves. It depicts a picture of students being rather
focused, considering (for most part) only three majors. They, however, keep an
open mind about the specific majors. Many of them consider non-business
majors along with business majors, but mostly stick with business majors after
evaluating their options. They are fairly evenly split between choosing a major or
a university first. But, in either case, they place extra emphasis on the potential of
getting financially rewarding careers. In choosing a major, they are also heavily
influenced by career choices that needs the skills they tend to excel in; and in the
choosing a university, they are heavily influenced by accessibility (cost of
attending college). The sub-group analysis further suggests that females (in
comparison to males) and students who do not limit themselves to business majors
are looking for majors and careers in which match their skill set and they are
looking for more meaning from them.

26 Journal of the Academy of Business Education
DISCUSSION
This study extends previous research on college students= choice of major. By
focusing on a sample comprised of high school students, significant new findings
emerge in terms of when students choose a college major, the sources they use in
making the decision to pursue a major, and the factors that influence their choice of
university and major.
When Do Students Choose a Major
Students start thinking about their college major in high school. The findings
show that 94% of students thought about their major by their senior year in high
school, and 37% of students thought about their major as early as their junior year.
The current study is the first in our knowledge to survey high school students on
their choice of college majors. Past research on choice of college major involves
student subjects already in college [Arcidiacono, et al., 2012; Beffy, et al., 2012;
Zafar, 2011]. Accurately pinpointing when students select a major choice is
important because their belief systems shift with age. High school students tend to
be Aidealistic,@ whereas college students have the ability to relate their abilities to
their choice of majors and prospective careers [Arcidiacono, 2004]. Thus, this
study addresses the call to increase policies aimed at younger students
[Stinebrickner and Stinebrickner, 2011].
These findings show a need on behalf of students and an opportunity on behalf
of the universities to educate students about the majors, even in the late stages of
the senior year in high school. It is especially important for business colleges to
capture students at a young age, as 78% of students who considered a business
major ulti-mately chose a business major. Students tend to be focused on their
major choice, with 95% of students limiting their choice of major between one to
three options.
Sources of Information in Choosing a Major and University
Students use family and parents as the primary source of information in a
major choice. Additionally, family is the most important influencer in a student=s
university choice. These findings support past research, which show that parents
are a significant factor in a student=s choice of major [Bers and Galowich, 2002;
Zafar, 2011]. Parents believe that they can exert positive influence on their
children=s educational outcomes through their involvement [Hoover-Dempsey and
Sandler, 1997]. For example, by involving their children in domestic financial
decision-making, parents can increase their children=s attitudes towards finance as
a college major [Shim, et al., 2009]. Additionally, parents could use direct and
indirect forms of influence to encourage students to choose a major [Ceja, 2004].
Direct forms of influence include messages of encouragement to pursue higher

Fall 2014 27
education; indirect forms are nonverbal communications that communicate
struggles based on the parents= lack of education.
Notably, other researchers found parents were not influential in college
students= choice of major [Malgwi, et al., 2005; Strasser, et al., 2002]. Attanasio
and Kaufmann [2009] suggest that choice of university is mainly students=
decision. Our differential results may arise from our high school-age sample, as
opposed to the college-age sample of past research. As students get older, they
gain educational independence, and rely less on parental influences than when they
were younger [Cabrera and La Nasa, 2000].
Factors That Influence Students= Choice of Major and University
For high school students, money is the primary motivator for their choice of
major and university. Students identified Amonetary rewards@ as the top factor in
the choice of a major. Additionally, students identified Atuition costs@ and
Amonetary rewards@ as top factors in the choice of a university. The findings
support research, which find that pecuniary factors influence students= choice of
college major and university [Arcidiacono, Holts, and Kang, 2012; Attanasio and
Kaufman, 2009; Boudarbat and Montmarquette, 2009]. However, past research
involving college students show that pecuniary factors were second to
non-pecuniary factors such as Ainterest in subject@ [Malgwi, et al., 2005; Strasser,
et al., 2002]. One extrapolation is that students may be more money-motivated
prior to college coursework, and once they are exposed to course material, then
interest in the subject becomes more important. These results present opportunities
for researchers to explore the sources of this difference. Additionally, past
researchers found that perceived future earnings were more likely to influence
male (vs. female) students= choice of college major [Boudarbat and
Montmoarquette, 2009; Malgwi, et al., 2005; Wiswall and Zafer, 2011]. Our
results did not find any gender differences based on pecuniary factors.
In terms of gender differences, our analysis showed that female students were
more likely to choose a major because it leads to a Acareer that was fulfilling,@
whereas male students were more likely to choose a major that leads to the
extensive use of technology. Recognizing potential family responsibilities, female
students prefer majors where skills are unlikely to become obsolete [Turner and
Bowen, 1999]. For example, learning Shakespeare may provide more
opportunities than learning a computer language that may become obsolete in a
few years. On the other hand, male students may be attracted to majors that
incorporate technology, because of the higher income associated with technical
skills [Boudarbat and Montmarquette, 2009]. More generally, students may be
driven by gender roles and cultural stereotypes in their choice of a major that is
fulfilling versus one that uses technology [Eccles, 2005].

28 Journal of the Academy of Business Education
CONCLUSION, FUTURE RESEARCH AND
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
Students start thinking about their college majors as early as their junior year
in high school and finalize their decisions by the end of their senior year. Family is
a primary influencer in students= major selection process. Additionally, students
use perceived monetary outcomes to choose a major and university. Future
research can focus on several areas. First, students choose majors based upon
pecuniary and non-pecuniary factors; researchers may study how students develop
their understanding of these factors (specific to the major) and whether this
understanding is complete and accurate. Attanasio and Kaufmann [2009] found
that these beliefs were subjective and information varied across students. Second,
researchers can further investigate group-level differences that may explain
variations in how students choose their college major. For example, more research
is needed to investigate how ethnicity influences students= choice of college major.
Third, future research could examine how grade expectations could influence
major choice. Some students may choose majors that are Aeasy A=s@ or take fewer
years to achieve graduation [Paolillo and Estes, 1982; Stinebrickner and
Stinebrickner, 2011]. Finally, researchers could investigate the student differences
in Anumbers-oriented majors@ (e.g. math and sciences) versus
Anon-numbers-oriented majors@ (humanities, social sciences, arts). Past research
have found that students, especially females, often avoid numbers-oriented majors
[Beffy, et al., 2012; Cohen and Hanno, 1993].
This study allows us to better understand the needs of the high school students
making, arguably, the most important decision of their life. The study sheds light
not only on the timing of this decision, but also on factors that are influential in
making this choice. From a consumer perspective, it outlines what students are
looking for; and from a marketing perspective, it gives universities a clearer
picture on how to attract the students they wish to recruit.
The findings proffer implications in terms of how college recruiters can orient
their marketing communications. In terms of marketing a major and university,
recruiters could develop an appeal based on favorable future earnings. For
example, recruiters could emphasize salary statistics in advertising appeals. The
literature implies that leveraging pecuniary appeals might be especially effective
for male students [Wiswall and Zafer, 2011]. To recruit male students, recruiters
could develop appeals based on future earnings and the use of cutting-edge
technology to inspire their interest in the major and university. For female
students, recruiters may have more success making appeals centered on
Maslowian self-actualization needs. For example, recruiters can cite practical
skills that are durable and lead to better work-life balance.
For future research, we recommended (above) that scholars further study how
high school students form an understanding of pecuniary and non-pecuniary
factors particular to a major and whether their understanding is accurate. In terms

Fall 2014 29
of the knowledge and skills required, the business discipline is diverse; thus there
are opportunities to portray the business major as requiring many different skills
and applying to different contexts. While traditional skills such as analytical,
technological, negotiation, problem-solving, decision-making, leadership,
management, and the ability to implement change are prominent, essential skills
that are not often highlighted include creativity, understanding human psychology,
willingness to learn, oral and written communications, perseverance, the ability to
reconcile economic, competitive, human, and political perspectives, and
cross-cultural competency (Bennis and O=Toole, 2005; Finch, Nadeau and
O=Reilly, 2012; Harrigan and Hulbert, 2011; Kavanagh and Drennan, 2008;
McKendrick, 2012). Additionally business careers are relevant to a variety of
contexts. While the traditional view would be working for a for-profit
organization, business skills are also needed in non-profit organizations such as
government, health, volunteer organizations, fundraising and education.
Highlighting different skills and contexts to students may better assist them in
understanding the major; it may attract more students, who see a better match
between the business major and their abilities and aspirations.
REFERENCES
Altonji. J.G. AThe Demand For and Return to Education when Education
Outcomes are Uncertain.@Journal of Labor Economics, 11 (1, 1993). 48-83.
Arcidiacono, P. AAbility Sorting and the Returns to College Major,@ Journal of
Econometrics, 121 (2004), 341-375.
Arcidiacono, P., V. Joseph Holtz and Songman Kang. AModeling College Major
Choice using Elicited Measures of Expectations and Counterfactuals,@ Journal
of Econometrics, 166 (2012), 3-16.
Attansio, O. P. and Katja M. Kaufmann. AEducational Choices, Subjective
Expectations, and Credit Constraints,@ Working Paper. (2009).
Avery, C. and C. Hoxby. ADo and Should Financial Aid Packages Affect Students=
College Choices?,@ College Choice: the Economics of Where to Go, When to
Go and How to Pay for It, (2004). Chicago: Univeristy of Chicago Press,
239-299.
Beffy, M., Denis Fougere and Arnaud Maurel. AChoosing the Field of Study in
Post-Secondary Education: Do Expected Earnings Matter?,@ Review of
Economics and Statistics, (2012), 334-347.
Bennis, W. G. and James O=Toole. AHow Business Schools Lost their Way,@
Harvard Business Review, 83 (5, 2005), 96-104.
Bers, T. H. and Pamela M. Galowich. (2002), Community College Review, 4.
67-82.
Betts, J. AWhat do Students Know about Wages? Evidence from a survey done on
Undergraduates,@ Journal of Human Resources, 31 (1996), 27-56.

30 Journal of the Academy of Business Education
Boudarbat, B. and Claude Montmarquette. (2009), AChoice of fields of study of
university Canadian graduates: the role of gender and their parents' education,@
Education Economics, 17 (2, 2009), 185-252.
Cabrera, A. F. and Steven M. La Nasa. AUnderstanding the College-Choice
Process,@ New Directions for Institutional Research, 107 (Fall, 2000), 5-22.
Cattell, R. B., H. W. Eber and M.M. Tatsuoka. Handbook for the Sixteen
Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). (1970). Champaign, IL: Institute for
Personality and Ability Testing.
Ceja, M. AChicana College Aspirations and the Role of Parents: Developing
Educational Resiliency,@ Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 3 (2004),
338-362.
Ceja, M. AUnderstanding the Role of Parents and Siblings as Information Sources
in the College Choice Process of Chicana Students@, Journal of College
Student Development, 47 (1, 2006), 87-104.
Cohen, J. and Dennis M. Hanno. AAn Analysis of the Underlying Constructs
Affecting the Choice of Accounting as a Major,@ Issues in Accounting
Education, 8 (2, 1993), 219.
Drewes, T. and Christopher Michael. AHow Do Students Choose a University?: An
Analysis of applications to Universities in Ontario, Canada,@ Research in
Higher Education, 47 (7, 2006), 781-800.
Eccles, J. S. AStudying Gender and Ethnic Differences in Participation in Math,
Physical Science, and Information Technology,@ New Directions for Child and
Adolescent Development, 110, (2005), 7-14.
Finch, D., John Nadeau and Norm O=Reilly. AThe Future of Marketing Education:
A Practitioner=s Perspective,@ Journal of Marketing Education, 35 (1), 54-67.
Gould, S. AAssessing Self-Concept Discrepency in Consumer Behavior: The Joint
Effect of Private Self-Consciousness and Self Monitoring,A Advances in
Consumer Research, 20. (1993), 419-424.
Harrigan, P. and Bev Hulbert. AHow can Marketing Academics Serve Marketing
Practice? The New Marketing DNA as a Model for Marketing Education,@
Journal of Marketing Education, 33 (3, 2011), 253-272
HERI 2012. Retrieved from http://heri.ucla.edu/monographs/TheAmerican-
Freshman2012.pdf
Hoover-Dempsey, V. and Howard M. Sandler. AWhy Do Parents Become
Involved in their Children=s Education?@ Review of Educational Research, 57
(1, 1997), 3-42.
James, E., Nabeel Alsalam, Joseph C. Conaty and Duc-Le To. ACollege Quality
and Future Earnings: Where Should You Send Your Child to College?,@
Economics of the Education Industry, 79 (2, 2001), 247-252.
Kavanagh, M. and Lyndal Drennan. AWhat Skills and Attributes Does an
Accounting Graduate Need? Evidence from Student Perceptions and
Employer Expectations,@ Accounting & Finance, 48 (2, 2008), 279-300.

Fall 2014 31
Kim, D., F. Scott Markham and Joseph D. Cangelosi. AWhy Students Pursue the
Business Degree: A Comparison of Business Majors Across Universities,@
Journal of Education for Business, 78 (1, 2002), 28-32.
NCES 2013. Fast Facts. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/
display.asp?id=372
Malgwi, C. A., Marhta A. Howe, and Priscilla A. Burnaby. AInfluences on
Students= Choice of College Major,@ Journal of Education for Business, 80 (5,
2005), 275-282.
Manski, C. ASchooling as experimentation: A reappraisal of the post-secondary
drop-out phenomenon,@ Economics of Education Review, 8 (4, 1989),
305-312.
Mauldin, S., John Crain and Patricia H. Mounce. AThe accounting principles
instructor's influence on students' decision to major in accounting,@ Journal of
Education for Business, 75 (3, 2000), 142-148.
McKendrick, J. A7 Business Skills Desperately Needed in Today=s Economy,@
SmartPlanet.com, September 10, 2012. Retrieved from:
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/business-brains/7-business-skills-desperate
ly-needed-in-todays-economy/26154
Montgomery, M. AA Nested Logit Model of the Choice of a Graduate Business
School,@ Economics of Education Review, 21 (5, 2002). 471-480.
Noel, M., Chad Michaels and Michael G. Levas. AThe Relationship of Personality
Traits and Self-Monitoring Behavior to Choice of Business Major,@ Journal of
Education for Business, 78 (3, 2003), 153-157.
Paglin, M. and Anthony M. Rufolo. AHeterogeneous Human Capital, Occupational
Choice and Male-Female Earning Differences,@ Journal of Labor and
Economics, 8 (1, 1990), 123-144.
Paolillo, J. G. P., and R. W. Estes. AAn Empirical Analysis of Career Choice
Factors Among Accountants, Attorneys, Engineers and Physicians,@ The
Accounting Review, (1982), 785-793.
Pritchard, R. E., Gregory Potter and Michael S. Saccucci. AThe Selection of a
Business Major: Elements Influencing Student Choice and Implications for
Outcomes Assessment,@ Journal of Education for Business,@ Journal of
Education for Business, 79 (1, 2004), 152-156.
Shim, S., Bonnie L. Barber, Noel A. Card, Jing Jian Xiao, and Joyce Serido.
AFinancial Socialization of First-year College Students: The Roles of Parents,
Work, and Education,@ Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39 (12, 2009),
1457-1470.
Simon, C. C. AMajor Decisions,@ New York Times, November 2, 2012. Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/choosing-one-
college-major-out-of-hundreds.html?_r=0
Snyder, T.D. and Sally A. Dillow. Digest of Education Statistics, National Center
for Education Statistics. March 22, 2009. Retrieved from
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012001.pdf

32 Journal of the Academy of Business Education
Solis, M. "Business Class: Etiquette Essentials for Success at Work," Women in
Business, 57 (5, 2005), 31.
Soutar, G. N. and Julia P. Turner. AStudents= Preferences for University: A
Conjoint Analysis,@ The International Journal of Educational Management, 16
(1, 2002), 40-45.
Stinebrickner T.R. and Ralph Stinebrickner. ALearning About Academic Ability
and the College Drop-out Decision,@ NBER Working paper. (2009).
Stinebrickner, T. R. and Ralph Stinebrickner. AMath or science? Using
longitudinal expectations data to examine the process of choosing a college
major@, CIBC Working paper. (2011).
Strasser, S., C. Ozgur and D. Schroeder. ASelecting a business college major: An
analysis of criteria and choice using the analytical hierarchy process,@
Mid-American Journal of Business, 17 (2002), 47-56.
Turner, S. E. and William G. Bowen. AChoice of major: The changing
(unchanging) gender gap,@ Industrial and Labor Relations Review,@ 52 (2,
1999), 289-313.
Wiswall, M. and Basit Zafar. ADeterminants of college major choice: Identification
using an information experiment,@ Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff
Reports, (500, 2011).
Zafar, B. AHow do College Students form Expectations.@ Journal of Labor
Economics. 29 (2, 2011), 301-348.
Zafar, B. ACollege Major Choice and the Gender Gap,@ Federal Reserve Bank of
New York Staff Reports, (364, 2009).