This webinar explores the factors affecting the choices behind college majors in the presence of significant inter-group and spatial inequalities. Using four years of admissions application data at an elite university in South Africa in conjunction with quarterly labor force data, the links between aptitude-adjusted expected earnings, neighbourhood effects, and the choice of college major are traced. The paper relies on the availability of a rich set of academic and geographical information in the admissions database to make causal inference. The results show that expected earnings have a positive impact on major choice independently of high school background when the ex ante distribution of earnings captures the full range of between-major and within-major income differentials. White applicants are more responsive to differentials in expected earnings than black applicants. Neighbourhood effects influence college major choice through near-peer role models and relative achievement at the high school level. Biniam E. Bedasso is a Public Financial Management Specialist and is in charge of research and assessment at CABRI. He has wide-ranging experience in academia, think tanks and international organizations in a number of countries across three continents. Prior to joining CABRI, Biniam was a Global Leaders Fellow at Princeton University and the University of Oxford. His works have appeared in reputable international peer-reviewed journals as well as popular outlets such as Project Syndicate. Biniam received a PhD in Public Policy from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
by 