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Seeing Double Double Majors and Course‐Taking In The Liberal Arts

Seeing Double Double Majors and Course‐Taking In The Liberal Arts. Southern Sociological Society 2011 Richard N. Pitt & Whitney Laster Vanderbilt University. The Multiple Majors Project is funded by The Teagle Foundation in association with the

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Seeing Double Double Majors and Course‐Taking In The Liberal Arts

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  1. Seeing Double Double Majors and Course‐Taking In The Liberal Arts Southern Sociological Society 2011 Richard N. Pitt & Whitney Laster Vanderbilt University The Multiple Majors Project is funded by The Teagle Foundation in association with the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, & Public Policy and the Vanderbilt University Department of Sociology

  2. Double Majoring • The Rise Of A Major Curricular Trend Over The Last Ten Years • We Know Almost Nothing About The Trend’s Benefits and Drawbacks • Is Double Majoring Creating The • Kind Of “Renaissance” Student We Often • Associate With A Liberally-Educated Person? Are double-majors taking more courses across multiple domains of knowledge than single majors?

  3. Data And Methods Undergraduate Transcripts N=200 • 138 Institutions 30 Biology Single Majors 33 Biology Double Majors 16 Bio/STEM & 17 Bio/Non-STEM 30 English Single Majors 38 English Double Majors 22 Engl/HUMN & 16 Engl/Non-HUMN 30 Psychology Single Majors 39 Psychology Double Majors 20 Psyc/SOCS & 19 Psyc/Non-SOCS

  4. Course Distribution

  5. Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) (Economic Review 1993; Ellison et al 1997; Warner and Pierce 1993, Belfield and Levin 2002) Aesthetic Inquiry (8%) Foreign Language & Culture 15%) Historical Analysis (8%) Literary Analysis/Composition (8%) Moral Reasoning (8%) Quantitative Reasoning (8%) Scientific Inquiry (15%) Social Analysis (15%) Interdisciplinary (8%) Others (8%) HHI For The Average Core Curriculum (13 Courses) .11 Non-Specialization

  6. Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) (Economic Review 1993; Ellison et al 1997; Warner and Pierce 1993, Belfield and Levin 2002) Aesthetic Inquiry (3%) Foreign Language & Culture (7%) Historical Analysis (6%) Literary Analysis/Composition (15%) Moral Reasoning (6%) Quantitative Reasoning (6%) Scientific Inquiry (26%) Social Analysis (21%) Interdisciplinary (4%) Others (6%) HHI For The Average Core Curriculum (39 Courses) .31 Specialization

  7. Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) NATURAL SCIENCE Aesthetic Inquiry (4%) Foreign Language & Culture (5%) Historical Analysis (5%) Literary Analysis/Composition (6%) Moral Reasoning (5%) Quantitative Reasoning (9%) Scientific Inquiry (47%) Social Analysis (11%) Interdisciplinary (3%) Others (6%) HHI For The Science Single Major (41Courses) .36 Specialization HHI For The Science “Doubling-Down” (43Courses) .46 Hyper-Specialization HHI For The Science “Doubling-Different” (42Courses) .31 Hypo-Specialization

  8. Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) HUMANITIES Aesthetic Inquiry (4%) Foreign Language & Culture (9%) Historical Analysis (7%) Literary Analysis/Composition (30%) Moral Reasoning (8%) Quantitative Reasoning (5%) Scientific Inquiry (14%) Social Analysis (12%) Interdisciplinary (5%) Others (5%) HHI For The Humanities Single Major (35 Courses) .26 Specialization HHI For The Humanities “Doubling-Down” (38 Courses) .24 Hyper-Specialization HHI For The Humanities “Doubling-Different” (40 Courses) .29 Hypo-Specialization

  9. Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) SOCIAL SCIENCE Aesthetic Inquiry (3%) Foreign Language & Culture (7%) Historical Analysis (5%) Literary Analysis/Composition (9%) Moral Reasoning (5%) Quantitative Reasoning (7%) Scientific Inquiry (13%) Social Analysis (42%) Interdisciplinary (4%) Others (6%) HHI For The Social Science Single Major (35 Courses) .27 Specialization HHI For The Social Science “Doubling-Down” (37 Courses) .37 Hyper-Specialization HHI For The Social Science “Doubling-Different” (40 Courses) .23 Hypo-Specialization

  10. Findings Summary • Hyper-specialization (“doubling-down”) reduces and hypo-specialization (“doubling-different”) increases the breadth of students’ knowledge for STEM and SOCS • Both hyper-specialization and hypo-specialization work in opposite directions for HUMN majors • Science majors are the most concentrated (HHI=.38) of the disciplines even when “doubling-different.” • Humanities majors are the least concentrated (HHI=.26) but much of this is a function of the humanities epitomizing “liberal arts” knowledge. • Social science majors are in-between (HHI=29) but less likely to peak in their primary domain of knowledge than others.

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