Admitting men into a women's college: A natural experiment

Abstract

This study explores the effects of attending a women's college on college major, degree attainment, and occupation. Previous work on the effects of such attendance is quite limited, focusing primarily on role-model effects at coeducational institutions. To explore this issue in a new way, alumnae data from a college that was chartered as a women's college and later became coeducational was cold. This study finds that, after the admission of men into the college, the alumnae were less likely to pursue many traditionally male-dominated majors and occupations, but were not less likely to attain advanced degrees.