Research On Major Selection In Colleges And Universities

Under the new situation of higher education development in China, the practical significance of students' freedom to select major has been highlighted. In order to summarize the characteristics or rules, reveal the problems, and then to optimize the selective process, it is essential to do the research on major selection. Based on the survey of fresher in 2007 and some follow-up investigations, the paper uses Rational Choice Theory, Culture Reproduction Theory and Hierarchy of Needs Theory to do the research. It analyses the influencing factors, results and satisfaction degree etc. of students' major selection, and explores the absence problems and reasons.The paper consists of five main conclusions, as follows:1. The current main influencing factors of Chinese students' major selection are in sequence of "interesting", "employment opportunity", "potential of career development", "score placement" and "view of parents or family". The phenomenon indicates that the students try to combine the main important influencing factors of major selection to achieve satisfied results. Therefore, the students are relatively rational when doing major selection. To students in different higher education institutions and student groups, the main influencing factors of major selection to them are different. The main differences are the following: Among different higher education institutions, in spite of "score placement", the students attach more importance to "employment opportunity", "potential of career development" and "opinion of parents and family" in lower schooling hierarchy and social prestige schools. Among different genders, to female students, the number of influencing factor is more and the process of determination is more carefully. Among different student groups, the urban students and higher stratum students are easier to be affected by parents or family.2. About a quarter of fresher cannot fulfill their initial major selections. In 211-project universities and general public universities, the students' accomplishment degree of major selection is obviously lower than students' in colleges and private institutions. Major differences have strong influence to accomplishment degree, but the gender effect is not obviously. Compared with urban students and higher stratum students, the rural students and lower stratum students are at a disadvantage on both accomplishment degree of major selection and professional field, their opportunities for re-selection is relatively less. 3. About half of fresher and about sixty percent of sophomore are not satisfied with their majors. Students in different higher education institutions and majors have different satisfaction degree of major, especially the students with different majors in the same school. Generally speaking, the students with popular major will have higher satisfaction degree, but there are a lot of opposite phenomena such as some popular major students with lower satisfaction degree, and vice versa. Among different gender, urban-rural and different stratum students, there are different satisfaction degree of major. The female students have lower satisfaction degree overall and in majors with male characteristics they keep the low satisfaction degree. But in some fundamental majors as mathematics, physics and biology etc. female students' satisfaction degree are higher. Rural and lower stratum students have lower satisfaction degree overall, but have higher satisfaction degree in relative unpopular, lower level and hard majors.4. Students' major satisfaction degree is affected by many factors. There are about sixteen factors such as accomplishment degree of major selection, major classification, interesting, career developmental potential, score placement and so on. On the contrary, the major selection also has significant reaction to them. It shows that students' rational choices of major have a positive significance.5. There are many problems present in the process of major selection in colleges and universities, such as students' subjectivity of major selection is not strong, students' freedom of major selection is not high, unfair major selection is obvious and students' accomplishment degree and satisfaction degree of major selection is low. The main reasons are the educational idea neglecting students' subjectivity, existing gender-bias in social tradition, planned education system, unfairness of society and shortage of education resources.On the basis of above conclusion, the higher education institutions and government should actively optimize the mechanisms of major selection and try their best to meet the needs of students. In addition, they must take some measures to balance the major structures and to promote the fairness of major selection. On the other hand, the students should take the initiative to do career exploration and select their majors more rationally.