Gender Inequality College Majors

There have always been gender inequality in what majors college students choose and how they differ between men and women. Males and females make different choices with regards to college majors. Two main reasons have been suggested for this gender gap: differences in innate abilities, and differences in preferences.Even though women earned 58% of all undergraduate degrees awarded in 2008, they’re earning less money on average than men. Out of the top ten highest-earning majors, none are dominated by women, which means that the degrees women choose are far lower in the salary hierarchy. In most cases, these high-paying majors are completely dominated by men – in 7 out of the top 10 majors, over 75% of the degrees go to men. These majors are aviation, aerospace engineering, computer engineering, engineering, nuclear engineering, information technology, and electrical engineering. The remaining three of the top 10 majors are roughly equalized between men and women: business administration, business, and economics.