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Written by

KARE 11

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MINNEAPOLIS - There used to be a joke about women going to college to get "MRS" degrees.

Instead, women are earning the majority of bachelor's and master's degrees.

According to a University of Minnesota and University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) study, women are receiving 57 percent of all bachelor's and 60 percent of all master's degrees.

The study also says as the number of single men decreases, the percentage of women in high-paying careers increases. Those women also delay having children and are having fewer kids, researchers say.

"A scarcity of men leads women to invest in their careers because they realize it will be difficult to settle down and start a family," said study co-author Vlad Griskevicius, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. "In fact, the strongest effects were found for women who are least likely to secure a mate."

"Most women don't realize it, but an important factor in a woman's career choice is how easy or difficult it is to find a husband," said Kristina Durante, assistant professor of marketing at the UTSA College of Business and co-author of the study. "When a woman's dating prospects look bleak - as is the case when there are few available men - she is much more likely to delay starting a family and instead seek a career."

The study, titled "Sex Ratio and Women's Career Choice: Does a Scarcity of Men Lead Women to Choose Briefcase Over Baby?" was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

(Copyright 2012 KARE. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)