Beggs, Jeri Mullins, et al.

"Distinguishing the Factors Influencing College Students' Choice of

Major." College Student Journal, vol. 42, no. 2, Jun 2008 Part A, pp. 381-394.

EBSCOhost. 25 Mar. 2017.

The college student journal compares previous studies that indicate what major factors influence

students to choose majors, to the author's own study that was conducted. Taking from multiple

sources of study, it was found that the main factors include sources of information and influence,

job characteristics, fit and interest in the subject, and characteristic of the major/degree.

Information and influences included such preconceived ideas as parental pressure and parental

occupation. The outside study shows that this preconceived notion is not as expected as society

makes it out to be, earning 4% due to parental pressure. Job characteristics include the

considering the financial aspects of a job such as starting salary, high earning potential, benefits,

etc. This factor resulted in a surprising 7% who picked their major based on it earning potential

versus the 68.4% of the respondents who chose their major because of the interest in the field.

The characteristic of major/degree related to the accessibility and easiness to obtain a degree

from the major, which resulted in a not-so-shocking 4%.

The authors include instructors from Illinois State University. These include Jeri Beggs, a

professor in the department of marketing, who explores ethics education and ethical decision

making, John H. Bantham, an associate professor in the Management and Quantitative Methods

Department, and Steven Taylor, a professor in the Marketing faculty. The target audience is
addressing recruiters and advisors to bring light of the issue, and then concluding their article

with some ideas on how to better help the students in their decision-making process.

Through their own research conducted the authors found that their results differed slightly from

the previous surveys. Along with the previous factors found by the other studies, new factors

arose including psycho/social benefits pertaining to the interest in future psychological and social

benefits from their career. There was also the introduction of financial influence involvement

when selecting a major.

The survey concluded that order of importance for all students: 1. Match with Interests, 2.

Course/Major Attributes, 3. Job Characteristics, 4. Financial Considerations, 5. Psycho/Social

Benefits, and 6. Information Search (Beggs 381). The authors praise the high level of

importance to the genuine interest in the career.

Other quotes: Anecdotal evidence leading to our undertaking this study seems to imply that

some (perhaps many) undergraduate students employ strategies of indecision as opposed to

strategies of cognitive decision-making in that they "back into" a major rather than actively

choose a major, often by employing heuristics. For example, a student may choose a particular

major because "I don't want to sit at a desk all day" or "I don't like math." (Beggs 381)

Perhaps financial success is more salient to seniors because very soon they will be making a

transition to a professional work environment. Also, males rated financial success more
important than females. This may be due to a societal issue in which males are more likely to

view themselves as the primary breadwinners for their families. (Beggs 381)

The availability of information has exploded along with internet capabilities and the assumption

that the information is available if students want it. However, the questions remain as to whether

(1) young people are even interested in the information, (2) are they able to assimilate and

synthesize the information, and (3) are they developmentally able to use the information to make

decisions about their future? (Beggs 381)