New Majors and the Feminization of Psychology: Testing and Extending the Rajecki-Metzner Model

Abstract

Records of 445 new psychology majors—and responses from 301 returned questionnaires—were used to ( a) test and extend a generic model for academic pathways to the undergraduate major and ( b) investigate feminization of the field. The model holds that a student's contact with basic college psychology courses is a crucial element leading to a decision to major in the field. Our data supported this formulation. Concerning feminization, 74% of the applicants were women. As groups, however, women and men were not reliably different on features such as school backgrounds, psychology course histories, self-reported influences on and certain reasons for the decision to major, or plans following graduation. Feminization was thus evident in numbers, not academic characteristics.