Filling the gap between career choice and academic variables: gender comparisons in STEM and social sciences

Choosing a major involves the interplay of personal characteristics and contextual variables, two key elements of academic selection. The relationships between major choice (MC) and academic expectations (AEs) can highlight the processes evolved in the transition to higher education. We examined, across genders, the relationships between factors influencing MC and AEs among students pursuing social sciences (SocSci) and STEM careers. With a sample of first-year Spanish (n = 750) and Portuguese (n = 594) university students (Mdn = 18 years), we tested a model with two factors of a scale of determinants of career choice, named Perceived Personal Characteristics Influences (PPCIs) and Perceived Mediating Agent Influences (PMAIs), as predictors of five from an AEs questionnaire. The model invariance testing across gender and fields of study followed the examination of its factorial structure counterpart invariance across countries, fields of study, and gender. Factor means tests revealed negligible differences between women and men regarding PPCIs and PMAIs in STEM, while in SoSci, women displayed higher PPCIs than men. In STEM, they had lower expectations for training benefits to employability. In addition, women expressed higher expectations for political participation and citizenship than men, with a discrepancy that was higher in SoSci than in STEM. The regression model showed similar slopes between genders in both fields of study, with PPCIs being better predictors of AEs than PMAIs in SoSci, but not in STEM. PPCIs predicted better Training for Employment in STEM than in SoSci, and also Political Engagement and Citizenship in SoSci than in STEM. Results showed that women value personal characteristics more than men in SoSci, and their STEM choice is driven, possibly, by individual characteristics that foster greater self-determination and self-concept, non-differentiating them from men. Gender indifferentiation on PMAIs contradicts the belief that women attribute more relevance to others in their vocational choices. According to gender stereotypes, women have greater political and civic engagement, especially in SoSci, while men have higher AEs for job training. Contrary to previous results, no gender differences in career choices and educational expectations were found among STEM students. Furthermore, in STEM, PPCIs were weaker predictors of political engagement and citizenship, possibly due to the stereotypical portrayal of professional activities in this field.