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Early Exposure to Technology and College Major Choice

Author

Listed:
  • Edoardo Bella

    (Boston College)

  • Garrett Anstreicher

    (University of Iowa)

  • Joanna Venator

    (Boston College)

Abstract

We leverage the national rollout of FIRST robotics teams across high schools and document that attending a high school with a robotics club substantially increases the likelihood that a student will go on to major in computer science or engineering in college. These effects vary significantly by gender: while these programs increase the likelihood that male students go on to major in engineering/computer science (+3.1 pp), effects for female students are substantially smaller and are at times negative, with worse effects for teams with lower gender ratios. We confirm these findings in restricted-use Census survey data and find that positive impacts extend past college, with robotics teams increasing the likelihood that men work in STEM-related occupations. These results suggest that exposure to STEM-related high school extracurricular activities may increase interest in engineering and computer science but can also widen existing gender gaps in take-up of these fields.

Suggested Citation

  • Edoardo Bella & Garrett Anstreicher & Joanna Venator, 2026. "Early Exposure to Technology and College Major Choice," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 1112, Boston College Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:boc:bocoec:1112
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    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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