Research Proposal

Topic:

My paper will focus on degree programs offered by universities. What particularly interests me is the diversity and origin of degree programs. For example, when did music go from an enjoyable hobby, to a mandatory degree program for those who want to  pursue a career in it?  The paper will also take a look at the individuals who enroll in college or university, and what influences their choices, particularly in respect to the degrees they choose. The final topic my paper will address will an attempt to analyze the quality of life and happiness of those individuals, and what impact their education and degrees had on them.

Research Question

Why do undergraduates make poor decisions when it comes to choosing a degree? Could it be a possibility that their predisposed notions of college is created by the media and society? Or perhaps is it a broader problem of colleges and universities intentionally manipulating undergraduates into those lackluster degree programs.

Theoretical Frame

The principal agency problem, as described by Barry M. Mitnick of the University of Pittsburg was first discovered by himself and his associate Stephen Ross, is defined as “agency in terms of problems of compensation contracting; agency was seen, in essence, as an incentives problem.” Fundamentally it describes the inverse incentive of contracted individuals like lawyers and consultants to bill and fee for more hours, as opposed to getting their jobs done as efficiently as possible. This is extremely relevant to university. While a university’s mission should always be to foster the growth of its constituents, the modern university is highly incentivized to force undergraduates to take needless and unnecessary coursework, as well as providing unemployable and low income degree programs. I hypothesize that the universities do this for the sole purpose to keep the undergraduates enrolled as long as possible, ultimately paying their tuition, and obscene amounts of administration fees.  The alternate hypothesis is that undergraduates are willingly choosing their degree programs knowing full well their outcomes.

I have particular interest in this field as I am concerned with my generation’s perception on the correlation between degree choice and career possibilities, and I question my peer’s foresight when choosing their degree.

Research and Plan

My first step when doing my research was to use the internet to do a broad search of my topic. I found some online, non-scholarly articles that briefly discussed some of the topics in my questions. Most of the non-academic sources didn’t have anything too quote worthy, as it mostly was a group of millennials complaining about the price of college, as well as older generations complaining about the skills gap that exists in the employment market place.

Then, I used Rutgers Library in order to find scholarly sources. Although I found these to be far more complex and much more difficult to understand, they were the sources that I needed. Often times, these sources were riddled with bizarre and foreign terminology, as well as gibberish mathematical formulas that absolutely no real application, outside of the article itself. Although the majority scholarly articles I found were completely incomprehensible to me, there were some articles that I was able to quote mine from. In Wiswall and Zafar’s article, Determinants of College Major Choice: Identification using an Information Experiment, there were some nuggets of information I was able to comprehend that may be of use when constructing my argument, like “We find that the residual unobserved taste component major is the dominant factor in the choice of field of study” (Wiswall, Zafar, 3) Although the article doesn’t directly address or define what this taste is, it does state that “These “tastes” for majors have a strong year in school component, and play a much larger role for older than younger students” (Wiswall, Zafar, 3) Fundamentally, my understanding of this concept is that the strongest factor influencing undergraduates in their majors is their interest in it. This poses another question, as now I am curious as to what could possibly influence this ‘residual unobserved taste’.

Working Bibliography

Mitnick, Barry M. "Re: Origin of the Theory of Agency." Re: Origin of the Theory of Agency. University of Pittsburgh, Jan. 2006. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

WISWALL, MATTHEW, and BASIT ZAFAR. "Determinants Of College Major Choice: Identification Using An Information Experiment." Review Of Economic Studies 82.2 (2015): 791-824. Business Source Premier. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.

Artabe, A., and J. Gardeazabal. "Degree Choice Evidence From Stated Preferences." Empirical Economics (2016): 1-30. Scopus®. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.

Ashkanasy, Neal M. "International Happiness: A Multilevel Perspective." Academy Of Management Perspectives 25.1 (2011): 23-29.Business Source Premier. Web. 11 Oct. 2016. 

Carnevale, Anthony P., Ban Cheah, and Center on Education and the Workforce Georgetown University. "From Hard Times To Better Times: College Majors, Unemployment, And Earnings." Georgetown University Center On Education And The Workforce (2015): ERIC. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.