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In this paper, we examine the occupational distribution of individuals who hold bachelor degrees in particular fields in the United States using data from the various waves of the National Survey of College Graduates. We propose and calculate indices that describe two related aspects of the occupational distribution by major field of study: distinctiveness (how dissimilar are the occupations of a particular major when compared with all other majors) and variety (how varied are the occupations among those who hold that particular major). We discuss theoretical properties of these indices and statistical properties of their estimates. We show that the occupational variety has increased since 1993 for most major fields of study, particularly between the 1993 and 2003 waves of the survey. We explore reasons for this broadening of the occupation distribution. We find that this has not led to an increase in reported mismatch between degree and occupation.

Mini‐languages for teaching principles of programming ‐ such as Karel the Robot ‐ were once used in top computer science departments to provide a “gentle introduction” to programming for computer science majors. The paper builds a case for the use of mini‐languages in the context of introductory programming courses for non‐computer science major. We present a study that explored the use of Karel to teach introductory programming for information science majors.

This study aims to analyze the wage differentials of the majors in college education in Turkey, which is a country implementing an ongoing expansion in college education in recent years.

The study implements Mincreian wage regression using ordinary least squares, Heckman two-step estimation and quantile regression with sample selection correction by using household labor force surveys of TurkStat from the years 2014–2017.

The findings indicate one of the highest heterogeneity, close to 0.50 log points, between majors in the literature. The within-heterogeneity created by majors is highest among the graduates of social-behavioral sciences, law, biology, physics, mathematics, statistics, computer, engineering and manufacturing, as shown by a 90–10 difference, which is almost 700% for some of these majors. This study shows that the natural science and technical majors that are expected to be more productive and to be paid more fall behind in the wage distribution.

Estimation results show that natural science majors, except for subjects allied to medicine and engineering, are paid lower than law and service-sector-related majors. This indicates that the predictions of the skill-biased technical change hypothesis are not valid in the wage profiles in Turkey and that some majors supply more than the sectoral needs. This casts doubts on the effectiveness of the ongoing higher education expansion process of the country.

This study contributes to the literature on wage differentials of college majors, an area with limited studies. This is the first study analyzing wage differentials of the field of studies by correcting sample selection bias for the Turkish case.

The purpose of this article is examine some of the most successful contemporary global business leaders in relation to undergraduate institution and undergraduate major in order to examine the value and return of higher education programs for global business leadership. This is an important topic in the modern global context, as there continues to be an increasing global push toward deemphasizing and defunding liberal arts education in favor of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields for college and university students around the globe.

The educational backgrounds of the 2019 Fortune 50 CEOs were researched in relation to undergraduate institutions attended and undergraduate majors. The study also included an examination of graduate education, if applicable. Using available biographical information regarding the CEOs educational backgrounds, these business leaders were compared relative to the educational data.

An examination of the undergraduate educational backgrounds of the 2019 Fortune 50 CEOs revealed an exact split between 18 STEM majors, 18 liberal arts majors and 18 business majors, with 1 CEO who began university studies but did not graduate. Upon examination, it is also apparent that some majors were more directly related to a CEO's industry, while other majors ended up having little relation to the CEO's chosen career path.

The results of this study contribute to the very important discussion concerning the long-term value of a college education. At both micro and macro levels, stakeholders are constantly questioning the ultimate return on investment of a college education, and examination of the 2019 Fortune 50 CEOs indicates that the choice of college major is only one ingredient in the overall recipe for professional success. For these business leaders, there were a wide variety of educational paths, in terms of college academic preparations, that eventually led to the very pinnacle of professional and leadership attainment.

This study demonstrates that a particular undergraduate field of study is not going to make or break a career, and the examination of these Fortune 50 CEOs indicates that one's ultimate career achievement is not simply relegated to the specific field of undergraduate major.

This chapter examines the design and impact on student learning in two STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) capstone undergraduate research courses at Saint Augustine’s University. It discusses how these courses help student metacognitive capabilities as they synthesize their learning across the program, demonstrate holistic development, and successfully negotiate the transition to their next academic and career pathway. It couples data from these capstone research courses with a review of the literature to elucidate the conditions and impact that undergraduate research STEM capstone courses have benefited students, faculty and the University. These best practices for the capstone courses may be used as a model for other HBCUs capstone courses or undergraduate research experiences. Throughout this chapter, the following questions are addressed: How do the capstone courses prepare students for graduate school and/or the STEM workforce? How are the capstone courses enhancing student undergraduate experiences? How do the capstone courses offer authentic research experiences for each student in spite of limited resources and faculty? How do students and faculty feel they have benefited from the capstone course experience? How have students overall learning been enhanced because of the capstone courses?

The declining participation of young American females in computing fields negatively impacts diversity in the computing‐related workforce. While computing in China is also dominated by men, career prospects are positively perceived by Chinese women. The purpose of this paper is to investigate both countries' female gender perceptions toward computing and two influencing psychological factors, computer anxiety and computer self‐efficacy (CSE). To better understand American females' perception toward computing, these factors are compared to those of Chinese women.

The paper tried to understand gender perception toward computing, which is believed to be one factor influencing female participation in computing. The paper examined 137 American female students and 145 Chinese female students. All students were non‐IT‐related business majors. The survey contained the following scales: gender typing scale, CSE scale, and computer anxiety rating scale. The paper used the model comparison technique in structural equation modeling to develop the proposed model demonstrating the relationship among the three psychological factors.

It is found that American females perceive that computing is for females, but Chinese females perceive that computing is for both males and females. Computer anxiety has a direct influence on gender perception toward computing for both groups. CSE, however, does not have a direct influence on gender perception toward computing for both groups. CSE also has a direct relationship with computer anxiety. The extent to which each factor influences other factors is different between both groups and this reveals interesting implications.

The authors believe that to properly encourage female participation in computing, it is important to emphasize two areas in education. In order to lower computer anxiety and increase CSE, educators need to promote basic computer skills and provide a fundamental knowledge of computers and information technologies. A more positive perception by females could be created through a stronger awareness of female roles in computing. Classroom discussions including more examples of positive female role models in computing is necessary. Female professionals need to support each other and encourage young females to pursue computing‐related education fields and careers.

There is an important need to understand the decline of American female participation in computing. Few researchers have investigated gender perception toward computing with computer anxiety and CSE. Furthermore, a model explaining the relationship of the three factors previously had not been presented. This paper not only investigated how computer anxiety and CSE influences gender perception toward computing, but also compared these results between American and Chinese females. A suggested guideline to improve gender perception of American females was developed.