NEW MAJORS AND THE FEMINIZATION OF PSYCHOLOGY - TESTING AND EXTENDINGTHE RAJECKI-METZNER MODEL

Records of 445 new psychology majors-and responses from 301 returned q uestionnaires-were used to (a) test and extend a generic model for aca demic pathways to the undergraduate major and (b) investigate feminiza tion of the field. The model holds that a student's contact with basic college psychology courses is a crucial element leading to a decision to major in the field. Our data supported this formulation. Concernin g feminization, 74% of the applicants were women As groups, however, w omen and men were not reliably different on features such as school ba ckgrounds, psychology course histories, self-reported influences on an d certain reasons for the decision to major, or plans following gradua tion. Feminization was thus evident in numbers, not academic character istics.