GENDERED ACCOUNTS - UNDERGRADUATES EXPLAIN WHY THEY SEEK THEIR BACHELORS-DEGREE

Data from a four-year longitudinal study of undergraduates were used to determine whether males and females give different explanations for their decisions to seek bachelor's degrees and whether these differences could be explained by three mediating variables: performance levels, expectations, and attainment values. Females were found to give move importance to internal reasons than males did, but males gave higher ratings to items measuring academic drift, including luck. Females had higher academic performance levels than males, but no gender differences were found for expectations and attainment values, and performance levels did not explain gender differences in reasons for seeking the degree. An historic shift in gender ideology is proposed as an explanation for the findings.