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Author: Scholz, Dan
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Scholz, Dan
Risk and College Majors
Honors Project Paper 113, Department of Economics, Illinois Wesleyan University, 1995.
Also: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/econ_honproj/113
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics, Illinois Wesleyan University
Keyword(s): College Major/Field of Study/Courses; Education, Guidance and Counseling; Educational Aspirations/Expectations; Occupational Choice; Occupational Investment; Risk Perception; Undergraduate Research

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

When students choose a certain field of study in college, some opportunities are instantly forgone. Since different types of educations have varying degrees of forgone opportunities, risk is associated with educational choices. The extent to which these educational choices impose a risk on the individual is studied here. It is hypothesized that more technically oriented and job-specific type educations will have a higher risk than less restrictive liberal arts type educations. Using a large sample drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience of Youth, this paper examines the presence and nature of risk across the different areas of study. Initial analysis reveals that compared to other areas of study, engineers and scientists have a high average income and a high variance in those incomes. Using standard linear regression analysis to control for background variables, it is found that in general, this variance is significant and positively correlated to the higher paying, more technical fields.
Bibliography Citation
Scholz, Dan. "Risk and College Majors." Honors Project Paper 113, Department of Economics, Illinois Wesleyan University, 1995.