best viewed as the end result of a learning process. We find that students enter college as open to a major in math or … science as to any other major group, but that a large number of students move away from math and science after realizing that … because students realize that their ability in math/science is lower than expected rather than because students realize that …

emergence of differentials in abilities between children of advantaged families and children of disadvantaged families, (c) the …

forecastable at the time students decide to go to college (heterogeneity) and components that are unforecastable. About 60% of …

. Their study has been faulted because minority children and their parents may have pessimistic expectations about receiving … outcomes, minority parents and children have more pessimistic expectations about child schooling relative to white children and … their parents when their children are young. At later ages, expectations are more uniform across racial and ethnic groups …

This paper examines the family income -- college enrollment relationship and the evidence on credit constraints in post … ability. Long-run factors crystallized in ability are the major determinants of the family income -- schooling relationship …

Taking advantage of unique longitudinal data, we provide the first characterization of what college students believe at … of why students hold the initial beliefs about majors that they do. The data collection and analysis are based directly … that students enter school quite optimistic/interested about obtaining a science degree, but that relatively few students …