Effects of Student Major Indecision on Career Outcomes
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Date
2022
Authors
Cartmell, Tycho
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Student major indecision is a well-studied problem for counselors, psychologists, and students who seek to build fruitful careers from their college education. To quantify the effects of student major indecision on career outcomes, this paper analyzes University of Oregon alumni’s academic history data matched with corresponding career history data taken from online resumes. We use multiple linear regression analysis to estimate the effects of two observable manifestations of students’ academic indecision—undeclared status and major switching—on three observable career outcomes of interest: wages, job switching frequency, and managerial attainment. The results show that undeclaredness has significant negative effects on job switching frequency and wages, while major switching has significant positive effects on job switching frequency and wages. Both undeclaredness and major switching were shown to have insignificant effects on managerial job attainment.
Description
Keywords
Major indecision, Labor outcomes, Wages, Major switching, Indecisiveness