Why Not Science? Career Choices of Talented Americans

Yu Xie, University of Michigan
Alexandra Achen, University of Michigan

In a larger project, we attempt to address the following question, using data from a variety of sources: Why has there been a marked decline during recent decades in the proportion of native-born American youths who pursue scientific careers? In this paper, we study career trajectories of talented American youth using national, longitudinal education data for three cohorts: National Longitudinal Study of 1972 (high school seniors in 1972), High School and Beyond (high school sophomores in 1982), and National Education Longitudinal Study (8th graders in 1988).