GENDER AND ACADEMIC SPECIALTIES - TRENDS AMONG RECIPIENTS OF COLLEGE DEGREES IN THE 1980S

This article examines trends in the segregation of fields of study by sex for associate, bachelor's, master's and professional, and doctoral degrees from 1980 to 1990. Three dimensions of segregation are examined: unevenness, concentration or crowding, and intergroup academic contact. Trends in segregation during the college years are considered by comparing data on freshmen's intentions, based on data from the Cooperative institutional Research Program, with degrees earned four years later, based on data from the National Center for Educational Statistics. The data indicate a remarkable slowdown in the trend toward gender integration after 1985. The slowdown is interpreted from a social-control perspective on sex segregation.