SAN ANTONIO--()--American women today are more likely to earn college degrees than men
with women receiving 57 percent of all bachelor’s and 60 percent of all
master’s degrees. But are there consequences to having more women than
men in college?
“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”
Research from Kristina Durante, assistant professor of marketing at The
University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) College of Business, has found
the ratio of men to women dramatically alters women’s choices about
career and family. When men are scarce, women delay having children and
instead pursue high-paying careers.
“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
Durante. “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.”
In one study, the researchers examined the ratio of single men to single
women in each U.S. state and Washington D.C. They found that as
bachelors became scarce, the percentage of women in high-paying careers
increased, women delayed having children, and had fewer kids when they
finally decided to start a family.
In another study on college campuses, the researchers led women to
believe that there were either more men or less men on campus by having
participants read one of two news articles about the student population.
When women read that there were fewer men than women on campus, they
became more motivated to pursue ambitious careers rather than start a
family.
“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 coauthor 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.”
“Women who judged themselves to be less desirable to men—those women who
are not like Angelina Jolie—were most likely to take the career path
when men became scarce,” added Durante.
This research highlights a sexual paradox associated with women’s
economic and educational advancement. “As women pursue more education
and more lucrative careers when they can’t find a husband, the ironic
effect is that it will only get harder to find a husband as women become
more educated and earn higher salaries,” said Durante. “This is because
a woman’s mating standards keep increasing as she becomes more educated
and wealthy, which further decreases the number of suitable mates. More
than ever before, modern women are increasingly forced to make tough
choices such as choosing briefcase over baby.”
“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. Durante and Griskevicius’s
coauthors include the University of Minnesota’s Jeffry A. Simpson and
Stephanie M. Cantú and Joshua M. Tybur (VU University Amsterdam).
About the UTSA College of Business
UTSA’s College of Business is accredited by AACSB International, The
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, placing the
college in the top 10 percent of business schools worldwide. It is one
of the 40 largest business schools in the nation with 6,000 enrolled
students. The college is dedicated to raising its academic profile to
become one of the best business schools recognized for developing
“Knowledge for a New World.” For more information, call (210) 458-4313
or visit the college’s Web site at http://www.business.utsa.edu.