A Study on Main Factors Influencing Major Choice of Nanjing Audit University Students

Backgrounds — Students who graduated from high school and went to university have to consider and make a decision about their choice of university major, an extremely important decision to each of them, which can greatly influence their studying road, future occupation and even whole life. Purpose — The purpose of the research is to find out the main factors influencing NAU students’ choice of major. In addition, this research also aims to determine how Personal Factors, Family Factors and Profession Factors influence NAU students’ choice of major respectively. Methodology — We based on the previous research and narrowed three main factors including Personal Factor, Family Factor and Profession Factor as the main variables, then we conducted a questionnaire survey among all NAU students of different majors and grades, finally we analyzed the data that we collected and drew some conclusions. Results — We find that students have some knowledge of their major before they entering the university rather than knowing nothing, the Profession Factor is the top factor which is the biggest influence on the students’ choice of major, however, though some minor factors which belong to the Profession Factor have an important place, the dominant factor is still the Gaokao Score which belongs to the Personal Factor. As for those students who have changed their major, they more tend to choose Auditing, Accounting and Finance because of the professional advantages, only a few students are still dissatisfied with their chosen.

Do students need more information to leave the beaten paths? The impact of a counseling intervention on high school students’ choice of major

Despite an almost endless list of possible study programs and occupational opportunities, high school students frequently focus on pursuing a small number of well-known study programs. Students also often follow gender-typical paths and restrict their attention to study programs in which the majority of students consists of same-gendered people. This choice pattern has far-reaching consequences, including persistent gender segregation and an undersupply of graduates in emerging sectors of the industry. Building on rational choice and social psychological theory, we argue that this pattern partly occurs due to information deficits that may be altered by counseling interventions. To assess this claim empirically, we evaluated the impact of a counseling intervention on the intended choice of major among high school students in Germany by means of a randomized controlled trial (RCT). We estimate the effect by instrumental variable estimation to account for two-sided non-compliance. Our results show that the intervention has increased the likelihood that participants will consider less well-known or gender-atypical study programs, particularly for high school students with lower starting levels of information. Supplementary analyses confirm that a positive impact on information seems to be one of the relevant causal mechanisms. These results suggest that counseling services have the potential to guide high school students to less gender-typical and well-known majors, possibly reducing gender segregation and smoothing labor market transitions after graduation.

Philological Knowledge and the Choice of Major among Secondary School Students (Questionnaire Survey)

The article presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted in high schools in some western and Southwestern Bulgarian towns. The survey includes questions related to the motivation for learning, the students' interest in the subjects studied at school, and their preferences for different scientific fields in higher education. The text gives an example of good practice of interaction between a high school and a Bulgarian university, which attempts to bridge the gap in communication between the two levels of Bulgarian education. Conclusions are made about the place and authority of the philology (in particular – Bulgarian philology) in the modern educational situation.

Do Students With Different Majors Have Different Personality Traits? Evidence From Two Chinese Agricultural Universities

This paper explores whether a Student’s choice of major leads to certain personality traits and the reasons for this phenomenon. Specifically, we look at evidence from two Chinese universities, both of which specialize in agricultural studies. Using the Sixteen Personality Factor (16PF) questionnaire and the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) questionnaire, we collected data from two groups of students: those who study agriculture-related majors (ARM), and those who study non-agriculture-related majors (NARM). The surveys all showed no significant change in personality traits during Students’ freshman year. However, after 3 years of university study, significant personality trait changes were noted between seniors in the ARM and NARM groups. Whereas ARM seniors tended to be socially shy and lower in communicative competence, NARM seniors were better at expressing themselves and communicating with others. Although a Student’s choice of profession has an influence on their personality traits, it is not the only factor. The differences between ARM and NARM training models and curricula are also undoubtedly significant. Moreover, the bias against ARM in Chinese society further magnifies the differences in personality traits among students with different majors.

The Impact of Personal Values and Justifications on Academic Cheating for Business vs. Non-Business Students

In this study we examine college cheating behaviors of business students compared to non-business students, and investigate possible antecedents to cheating in an effort to better understand why and when students cheat. We specifically examine power values; we find that they are positively related to academic cheating in our sample, and that choice of major (business or non-business) partially mediates the relationship between power values and cheating. We also consider the extent to which students are able to provide justifications for their cheating, and find that business students are more likely to justify (rationalize) their cheating behaviors. Finally, we update the literature in terms of the ways students cheat. We assess newer forms of academic cheating, as increased accessibility to information via the Internet and smartphones may have changed the ways (and ease with which) students cheat – a particularly relevant topic currently, as many classes have moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic. In our study, cheating was especially prevalent when taking quizzes or tests (or completing homework) online. We found that only 10% of participants reported never engaging in any of the cheating behaviors we examined.