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High School Human Capital Portfolio and College Outcomes

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  • Guy Tchuente

Abstract

This paper assesses the relationship between courses taken in high school and college major choice. It considers individuals as holding a portfolio of relative human capital rates that may be either similar to those in their major—specialized—or different from those in their major—diversified. Using High School and Beyond survey data, I find a U-shaped relationship between the diversification of the high school courses portfolio and college performance. Policy experiments, using a structural model, suggest that taking an additional quantitative course in high school increases the probability that a college student chooses a STEM major by 4 percentage points.

Suggested Citation

  • Guy Tchuente, 2016. "High School Human Capital Portfolio and College Outcomes," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(3), pages 267-302.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jhucap:doi:10.1086/687417
    DOI: 10.1086/687417
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    Cited by:

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    2. Leighton, Margaret & Speer, Jamin D., 2020. "Labor market returns to college major specificity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    3. Leighton, Margaret & Speer, Jamin D., 2020. "Labor market returns to college major specificity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    4. Eggenberger, Christian & Rinawi, Miriam & Backes-Gellner, Uschi, 2018. "Occupational specificity: A new measurement based on training curricula and its effect on labor market outcomes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 97-107.
    5. Graziella Bertocchi & Luca Bonacini & Marina Murat, 2023. "Adams and Eves: High school math and the gender gap in Economics majors," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(4), pages 798-817, October.
    6. Granato, Silvia, 2023. "Early Influences and the choice of college major: Can policies reduce the gender gap in scientific curricula (STEM)?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 494-521.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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