School subject choices: gender stereotype and social influences on adolescents’ educational decisions

Introduction
The persistence of gender stereotypes is often linked to the educational choices and predictably of outcomes of Scotland’s young people.
Aim
To investigate the effects of social influences on subject choices, adolescents’ knowledge and endorsement of school subject gender stereotypes was examined, as well as their actual subject choices and interest in hypothetical gender-stereotypical school projects. Additionally, the gender ratio of the previous cohort of project students was presented as either a male or a female majority.
Methods
Adolescents (13 – 17 years, N = 361) undertook an online questionnaire where knowledge and endorsement of gender stereotypes associated with 22 school subjects was measured using a newly developed Curriculum Stereotype scale. Furthermore, experimentally manipulated gendered project options and previous cohort information
were shown and interest levels were measured.
Main Findings
Adolescents indicated gender stereotype knowledge for 21 of the 22 subjects. They rated interest in own-gender majority projects (M = 66.8) higher than projects with an other-gender majority (M = 61.0; p = .003, η= 0.02). and Own-gender typical projects (M = 70.1) higher than other-gender typical projects (M = 57.7; p < .001, η= 0.11); this difference was significantly greater in males than females, reflecting gender differences found in similar research.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that own-gender peer majority is highly influential in adolescent decision-making, and that alongside gender stereotypes, dominates subject selection, more so in boys. We consider the implications of the findings regarding gender imbalance interventions in course selection.