Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Ohio University, 2021, Business Administration

The purpose of this study is to understand differences in factors in selecting a college major for students studying business and non-business majors by gender. A survey was distributed to students at four-year undergraduate institutions in the United States. Ultimately, it was observed that significantly more business students were influenced by earning potential and college professor(s) in the selection of their major. Significantly more female business students were influenced by their father in their choice of major than were female non-business students. Some factors that influenced female non-business majors more than female business majors included teachers and exposure to major throughout high school. When examining how to increase female enrollment in business colleges, factors seen as more influential by non-business majors should be considered for recruiting women to business.

Committee: Travis Davidson (Advisor) Subjects: Business Administration; Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Higher Education Administration

Multipotential students have multiple abilities, strengths, and interests, many of which could be developed to a high level. They can succeed in a wide range of careers, have many interests that they may wish to combine or decide amongst when considering their plans, often leading to indecision. Deciding on an academic major or career is a complex decision, particularly for multipotential students. The purpose of this general inductive inquiry was to understand how multipotential college students navigate the academic major and career choice processes. Rational choice theory was the theoretical framework for this study. I interviewed 12 current multipotential college students and four advisors who assisted students with academic and career decisions and plans. Advisors identified the student participants as multipotential, and the students confirmed their multipotentiality before participating in the study. Three themes emerged from the data about multipotential students' experiences with academic major and career choice processes: (a) Seeking Support and Validation; (b) Using Exploration, Reflection, and Connection to Learn; and (c) Using Growth and Self-Awareness to Help Students Navigate Their Choices. Three themes also emerged related to the challenges of multipotential students: (a) Searching for Options and Flexibility, (b) Delaying Having to Make a Choice, and (c) Finding Ways to Pull all the Pieces Together. Themes that related to the use of RCT included: (a) Helping People and Developing Community, (b) Focusing Beyond Salary, and (c) Using Values for Guidance. Six implications for practice are presented. First, advising staff who assist multipotential students can benefit from training about multipotential students and their needs. Second, values should be considered and used to assist multipotential students. Third, multipotential students can benefit from experiences, including encountering failure. Fourth, institutions should offer self-desi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Maureen Wilson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Susan Peet Ph.D. (Other); Jodi Devine Ph.D. (Committee Member); Christopher Frey Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Ohio University, 2025, Business Administration

Utilizing data from the Department of Education's College Scorecard website, this study consists of two parts, which are calculating program-specific net present values (NPV) for 2019 and 2021 graduates and using linear regression to predict future college costs for each included institution.  A paired t-test conducted on the differences in NPV between 2019 and 2021 shows that the majors with the most significant differences in values were in healthcare, engineering, and business fields, which supports broader trends in salary growth, hiring, and industry performance.  The second part of the study, predicting future college costs, finds future annual academic year costs for each institution included through the 2027-28 academic year.  These costs were analyzed by control type, geographic region, and urban versus rural designation.  This data indicates an increasing gap between the costs of public and private universities. Additionally, the study shows that colleges in the Northeast are more expensive than in other regions, and schools in urban areas are more costly than those in rural areas.  Overall, this study sets the stage for future research to be done on degree program values and the predictability of them once more data is available, which was the original intention of this undergraduate thesis.

Committee: Ehsan Ardjmand (Advisor) Subjects: Business Administration; Economics; Education Finance; Finance; Higher Education

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, Sociology

While a bachelor's degree generally remains an essential component of meritocratic process and is increasingly essential for attaining well-paying jobs, a growing body of research finds that choice of college major often has equal or greater impacts on post-graduate economic returns than does simply having a degree. Such work is limited, however, in considering the full range of occupational characteristics. Research using occupation-based social class analyses, specifically referred to in stratification scholarship as EGP, can be helpful in this regard given that such measurement captures relative status and returns. To address this knowledge gap, this study uses microdata from the American Community Survey (ACS) 2022 5-Year estimates (n=1,810,623) of individuals ages 22 to 65 to analyze class composition and comparisons for individuals holding bachelor's degrees across 15 broad majors. Multinomial logistic regression reveals significant disparities—disparities that largely favor those majoring in Architecture and Engineering, Computers, Statistics, and Mathematics, and Physical Sciences when it comes to mobility to the highest occupational and social class status. While generally constrained, the likelihood of upward movement increases for all majors with further work experience. These findings further reinforce the importance of investigating educational pathways on job returns, ultimately influencing broader patterns of social mobility and access to life chances within the labor market.

Committee: Vincent Roscigno (Advisor); David Melamed (Committee Member); Rachel Dwyer (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Sociology

Student belonging is a burgeoning topic in education research because of its positive association with persistence and graduation. It is thought to underscore why students minoritized on a campus, either by race or social class, have higher rates of departure and lower levels of well-being than students who make up the majority (Gillen-O'Neel 2021; Gopalan and Brady 2020; Nunn 2021; Strayhorn 2018). This dissertation is a case study of student belonging. Specifically, I analyze longitudinal surveys and interviews with a sample of first-generation college students who were surveyed and interviewed four times across their four undergraduate years. My findings support the association between marginalization, belonging, and persistence, while also encouraging researchers to reconsider the causal relationship between belonging and positive academic outcomes. Chapter 2 identifies four classes of student belonging based on two waves of survey responses (n=911, n=486). Using Repeated Measure Latent Class Analysis, I find belonging patterns along academic and social axes. Students often change classifications across years, and generally first-year students who feel they belong socially are more likely to maintain or develop academic belonging than students who lack social belonging during their first year. The class-type grouping revealed by the data are clearly connected to race and, to a lesser extent, social class background. White students tend to have higher levels of social belonging than non-White students, and by the second year of college students whose families help finance their education are more likely to relate deeper social belonging than students without familial support. Though belonging is associated with a student's intention to persist, I find no significant association with grades. Chapter 3 explores trajectories of student belonging, and whether and how such belonging shifts, through an analysis of 56 semi-structured longitudinal interviews. In th (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarah Hayford (Advisor); David Melamed (Committee Member); Vincent Roscigno (Advisor) Subjects: Education; Gender; Higher Education; Social Research; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2010, Higher Education (Education)

This study investigated two major sources of influence (institution and individual characteristics) on the earnings of graduate degree recipients. These factors have been shown in previous research to influence the initial earnings of graduates at the undergraduate level. This research seeks to build on previous studies by Perna (2003, 2005) that focused on the benefits of education to undergraduate students based on racial and gender differences; and Strayhorn (2008) that focused on the relationship between African American graduates from an Historical Black College or University (HBCU) and the graduates economic outcomes (i.e. occupational status, and job satisfaction). This study is designed to extend this line of inquiry by examining the salary of 1993 baccalaureate graduates who attained a graduate degree by 2003, ten years after earning a bachelor's degree. Descriptive and multiple regression analyses were used to explore institutional type, major choice, gender, race/ethnicity, parental education and work experience using the Baccalaureate and Beyond survey. Major findings of institutional characteristics revealed higher salaries for individuals who attained a graduate degree. Attending a private institution and majoring in a STEM graduate program were also found to be positive salary determinants. Individual characteristics indicated that men earned higher salaries than females across all variables. For example, on average, women earned almost $20,000 less than men who attained a graduate degree. Race/ethnicity did not have a significant impact upon earnings. The salary of individuals whose parents earned a bachelor's degree or higher earned more than those whose parents earned less than a bachelor's degree. Graduate degree holders with less than six years work experience earned more than those who with seven or more years work experience.

Committee: Valerie Martin Conley PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Economics; Higher Education

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2008, Psychology/Clinical

In light of religious and worldview differences between psychologists and the general population of the United States (i.e., psychologists are generally less religious and endorse more non-traditional religious views), the researcher sought to determine whether such differences are evident at the level of undergraduate education. Using data from questionnaires administered to 3,680 undergraduate students in their junior year, the researcher compared psychology and all non-psychology majors in terms of scientism, irreligiousness, normative religiousness, humanism, spiritual struggle, and religious embeddedness. MANCOVA and ANCOVA statistical analyses suggested that psychology majors were higher on humanism and spiritual struggle than were students in all other majors; the two groups did not differ with respect to the other four variables. Psychology majors were also compared to more specific subsets of majors, including students of the natural sciences, humanities, theology/religion, business, education, engineering, and health professions. In this case, education and theology/religion majors scored lower on scientism and higher on normative religiousness and religious embeddedness than did psychology majors. On spiritual struggle, psychology majors scored higher than students of business, education, and engineering. Psychology majors were also higher on humanism than all majors except the humanities and theology/religion. These results indicate that the differences between undergraduate psychology majors and their peers are subtle, with psychology majors tending slightly toward humanism and spiritual struggle. Two forces may further lead psychologists-in-training down their divergent religious path. First, those with greater humanism and spiritual struggle may be selectively attracted to graduate education and a career in psychology. Second, additional educational and professional socialization may cultivate humanism and spiritual struggle, contributing to the aband (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kenneth Pargament PhD (Advisor); Annette Mahoney PhD (Committee Member); Michael Zickar PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education; Psychology

BA, Oberlin College, 1981, Economics

The problem: students in General Engineering at the University of Waterloo are not choosing as often as before to enter Civil Engineering. Increasing numbers of students are choosing Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, creating a large imbalance in the three class sizes. There is tremendous concern about whether this is a long or short run trend, why this imbalance exists, and about what, if anything, should and can be done to correct this imbalance. In this paper, I will construct a logit model of student choice and apply directly to those students who have been in General Engineering at the University of Waterloo. I will attempt to discover the answer to the question- Why are students no longer choosing as frequently to enter Civil Engineering? This paper is unique in that it attempts to build a relatively sophisticated model of undergraduate choice of major and to test it empirically. Very few studies have focused on the choice of major (or department) even briefly. Choice of major is important topic because it helps to determine the future distribution of high level skills among labor; it certainly ought not to be neglected. Those studies which have looked at choice of department, have given the subject cursory glances at best. The studies have not attempted to include factors unique to the student (e.g. aptitude, interests), nor have they looked at non-salary market characteristics such as numbers of jobs. We shall find that these factors are the most important ones in explaining choice of department and should be considered. We shall find that the large fluctuations in proportions of students entering each department are caused primarily by the cyclical fluctuations in the job markets.

Committee: (Advisor) Subjects: Engineering; Higher Education