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Selection of the Advertising Major





The Decision to Major in Advertising:

Gender Differences and Other Factors


Jami A. Fullerton, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Advertising
School of Journalism and Broadcasting
Oklahoma State University
206 Paul Miller Building
Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078
ph. 405/744-8276
fax: 405/744-7104
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Don Umphrey, Ph.D (University of Texas)
Associate Professor of Advertising
Division of Advertising
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas 75275-0113
ph. 214/768-3370
fax: 214/768-1155
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 The Decision to Major in Advertising:

Gender Differences and Other Factors


Abstract
        This study surveyed 275 advertising majors from two southwestern universities to determine the factors influencing their selection of their major.  Many of the students reported being attracted to advertising because of its creative aspects.  Reflecting this, more than one-third of the students expressed a desire to work as art directors or graphic designers after graduation.  When asked about sources of information about aspects of their advertising major, most frequently cited were television, movies and ads in the media.  Almost half of the students declared the advertising major after earlier majoring in other disciplines; many cited business or marketing as their first majors.
In comparison to male advertising majors, women had higher grade point averages, chose to major in advertising earlier and were more likely to have selected advertising as their first and only major in college.  Men were more likely to label advertising as an "easy major" and less apt to say they planned to work in the advertising profession after college graduation.


 The Decision to Major in Advertising:

Gender Differences and Other Factors

        In the most basic undergraduate classes, advertising educators stress the importance of understanding why a consumer would select a particular product.  As would be demonstrated in the classroom, this information affects all aspects of the campaign, including the message and the media that will carry this message.
        These same principles from the marketing concept could be applied to the professor's own end product: the students who choose to major in advertising.  Information about these students and the reasons underlying the selection of their major would be helpful in meeting the individual needs of students, developing curriculum, making administrative decisions, recruiting future students, and serving the advertising industry.
        Experience with students undoubtedly serves as an informal means of finding out some of the reasons underlying the selection of a major.  But there is a dearth of such information that has been obtained via formal research methods.  The purpose of this paper is to provide some baseline information as to the reasons underlying the decision to major in advertising.  For example: What are the most and least favorite subjects of advertising majors?  Their career plans?  Are there really more women majoring in advertising than men?  Are there identifiable patterns or attitudes that distinguish between the genders?




Literature Review
Choice of Major
There is already some available information on the choice of an advertising major.  Ross and Johnson (2001) documented the number of advertising graduates in the U.S. the previous year at 4,945, and 2,254 with combined advertising/public relations degrees.
In a pilot study to ascertain why students become advertising majors, Kendrick (1998) concluded that advertising as a major was not on a high school student's "menu of subjects to study in college."  The study reported that 75% of students made their decisions to major or minor in advertising after high school and that a majority of them said that they were not aware that there was an opportunity to major in advertising when they were in high school.  College career advisors were not familiar with the advertising major or the advertising industry, and as a result, friends or relatives were the most common source of information about the advertising major for potential students.
        A study of advertising majors at one university (Schweitzer, 1988) revealed that students were drawn to advertising because it was perceived as "interesting and challenging work" though the pay was believed to be low.  According to this study, students were most interested in working in advertising creative departments when they left college.  Smith (1987) surveyed news-editorial and public relations-advertising students about their attitude toward communication careers.  News-editorial students believed public relations and advertising careers to be less useful to society and less prestigious but that they paid more than careers in news-ed.  By contrast, the public-relations-advertising students believed their careers were more prestigious and useful to society than news-editorial careers, but rated the opportunity for financial reward about the same.
Gender differences in choice of college major
Several studies focus on sex discrimination and gender stereotyping in choice of college major (Blakemore & Low, 1984; Lyson, 1984; Stocking & Goldstein, 1992; Swoboda, 1980), while others deal with questions aimed as to why some fields of study attract more of one gender than another ("Are Our High School," 1994; Grandy, 1984; Lovely, 1987; Ramist, 1984).
Two studies have examined the gender ratio among advertising majors.  In a national sample of communication students, Becker et al. (2000) reported 60% of the advertising graduates were women.  Umphrey & Fullerton (2001) observed that more than three-quarters of the advertising majors were women in an analysis of the graduating class at one university.
Dawson-Threat and Huba, (1996) found that despite the fact that fewer than half of the students surveyed identified themselves with traditional sex roles, more than half chose majors that were traditionally associated with their gender; women were more likely to do so than men.
Researchers have examined choice of college major and its impact on human capital since the 1970s.   The choices that men and women make when selecting their college majors affect the skills they bring to the work force (Turner, 1999) and therefore have been examined as a possible explanation for wage inequity among the sexes.  Polacheck (1978) linked college major selection to gender discrimination in hiring practices among employers.
Eide (1994) noted that college major distribution changed from the 1970s.  "Low-skill" fields such as education and letters became less popular in the 1980s and were replaced by "high-skill" fields such as engineering and business.  According to Eide's study, women were responsible for this shift as they migrated toward high-skill majors (and thus higher paying fields) in the 1980s, contributing to the decline in the wage gap for male and female college graduates during that time.  A later study (Turner, 1999) noted that during the next two decades, the shift did not continue and that differences between men and women in their choice of college major remained fairly stable, as did the differences in their earnings.
The trend for women to study in traditionally female oriented fields seems to remain.  According to a recent survey of high school seniors (Melymuka, 2001), girls were five times less likely to consider technology-related college majors or careers (computer science and engineering) than boys for whom it was the top choice.  Though girls were equally computer literate and appreciated the importance of computers to future employment, they opted instead for careers in health services, teaching, art or music.  The study blamed poor public relations among the information technology industry for not attracting more women. The lack of female role models in science, engineering and math was also considered a deterrent in the survey.  However, a separate study (Canes & Rosen, 1995) examining this aspect of gender differences in college majors revealed no evidence that an increase of female faculty would lead to an increase of female students.
Math attitudes/aptitudes and choice of college major
Research has addressed both attitudes toward certain fields of study and attitudes towards those fields in relationship to the selection of a major.
         A study of Nebraska students connected attitudes toward math to choice of college major (Eckard, 1995).  Fullerton and Umphrey (2001) found a generally negative attitude toward math among advertising majors.  There was a perception, particularly among women, of the major being less math intensive and therefore, more apt to draw students with math aversion.
Advertising majors had the lowest SAT scores on both verbal and quantitative measures in comparison to other groupings of majors on a university campus (Umphrey & Fullerton , 2001).  As to differences by gender, male advertising majors had higher SAT scores, while their female classmates graduated with significantly higher GPAs.
The earlier referenced Turner (1999) study looked at the effects of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and pre-college preparation along with a variety of other factors.  Researchers concluded that differences in SAT scores accounted for only a part of the differences in college major choice (and future earnings) among men and women.  Other factors, such as individual preferences, labor market expectations and socialization accounted for differences in choice of college major as well.
Additional research (i.e. Shanklin, 1978) also has associated SAT scores with the selection of a major.  Higher verbal scores have been linked to humanities majors (Angoff & Johnson, 1988; Grandy, 1984).  Angoff and Johnson also found higher quantitative scores among those majoring in the physical sciences, and the lowest SAT quantitative and qualitative scores among majors in the social sciences.

Research Questions
In addition to considerations from the review of literature, research questions were formulated after conducting informal discussions with groups of advertising majors at the universities involved in this study.  (See the methodologies section below.)
1.      What is the difference in ratio of advertising majors by gender?   Are there differences by gender to each of the questions below?
2.      Do students major in advertising because: It is perceived as an easy major?  It gives them job-related skills?  The creative aspects?  Its business-orientation?  The professors or introductory classes?
3.      When do students determine they will be advertising majors?
4.      Is advertising the first declared major for the majority of majors?  What were the previous majors among those for whom advertising was not a first choice?
5.      Who or what are the most important sources of information for students in selecting the advertising major?
6.      What career-paths do advertising majors say they will follow?
7.      What high school subjects will advertising majors cite as their most and least favorite?  What do they perceive as the most helpful courses at the university?

Methodology
Sample
        Data were collected during the week of February 5-9, 2001 by distributing self-administered questionnaires in advertising classes at two universities in the Southwest.  One of the universities was a medium-sized, private, liberal arts institution and the other a large, state, research institution.  Both universities offer bachelor's degrees in advertising.  The private institution houses its advertising department in a college of fine arts, while the public university's advertising program is part of a journalism school in the college of arts and sciences.
        According to instructions given in each of the classes, questionnaires were to be completed by advertising majors only.  Further, individuals who had completed a questionnaire in a previous class were instructed not to fill out a second questionnaire.
Instrument
The questionnaire was developed using information gathered from interviews with groups of advertising majors at both universities as to why they chose to major in advertising.  A preliminary questionnaire was generated from the interviews and given to a sample of thirty advertising majors at each school.  After analyzing the preliminary questionnaire results, a final five-page questionnaire was created and used in this study.
The questionnaire included demographics, GPA, when students had selected the advertising major, whether it was their first, second, third, fourth or fifth declared major, their favorite and least favorite high school subjects, sources of information about the advertising major and types of jobs they are interested in pursuing after graduation.  The questionnaire also contained eleven attitudinal items about the advertising major and advertising profession, such as "I majored in advertising because of the creative aspects," and "When I graduate from college I expect to work in an advertising-related job" to which students were asked to indicate the extent each most reflects their opinion from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1).  (See Table 2 for complete list of attitudinal statements.)  The questionnaire included some other items not included in this study.  The students completed the questionnaire in an average of six minutes and twenty-eight seconds with a range between
 four minutes and twenty seconds and nine minutes and ten seconds.
Completed questionnaires were coded into an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using SPSS Version 10 for Macintosh.  Statistical tools included frequencies, mean scores, t-tests and chi squares.
Results
The response rates included 179 advertising majors out of a possible 227 at the private university, accounting for 78.9% of the advertising majors and 96 out of 131 majors at the public university, a 73.2% response rate.  The total sample size equals 275, a combined response rate of 76.8%.
Overall, the sample was predominantly female (65% female and 35% male).  Students participating in the study were traditional college age (96% between 18 and 23) and most were upperclassmen (77% juniors or seniors).  The vast majority of the students were white (85%). The overall mean score of their self-reported GPA was 3.08 on a 4.00 scale with women reporting 3.16 and men reporting 2.92 (t=-4.659, p<.0001).  All were advertising majors.
A few minor differences were noted between the students at the public and private institutions.  Those at the public university were, on average, slightly older and further advanced in their studies. There were no significant differences between the two schools in terms of GPA or in ratio by gender (See Table 1).
Overall opinions about advertising as a major and a profession
Students were asked to give their opinions about advertising as a major and as a profession by indicating their agreement with eleven statements from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1).  Table 2 provides a listing of the statements, the mean ratings, standard deviations and variances for the entire sample.
The single statement with which students most strongly agreed was "I majored in advertising because I find it interesting" (Mean Score = 4.55).  Students also strongly agreed with "When I graduate from college I expect to work in an advertising-related job" (Mean Score = 4.11), "I majored in advertising because of the creative aspects" (Mean Score = 4.03) and "I majored in advertising because it combines both creative and business aspects" (Mean Score = 4.03).
The statements leaning more toward disagreement were "Advertising attracts students because it is an easy major" (Mean Score = 2.59) and "Advertising courses are easier compared to your "average" course on campus" (Mean score = 2.60).  Students also tended to disagree with the statement "When I was in high school, I did not know that I could major in advertising at college" (Mean Score = 2.75).
Men and women varied significantly on their responses to three of the statements (See Table 4.) including "When I graduate from college, I expect to work in an advertising-related job," "Advertising attracts students because it is an easy major" and "Advertising courses are easier compared to your 'average' course on campus."  Women were more likely to think that they would work in an advertising-related job after they graduate than men (t=-2.522; p<.012), while men were more apt to think that the advertising major attracted students because it was easier (t=3.304; p< .001) and that advertising courses were easier than others on campus (t=2.864; p< .005).


Time in academic career that students chose to major in advertising
        The majority of students (43.3%) decided to major in advertising during their sophomore year in college.  About twenty percent decided on advertising during their first year and an equal amount in their junior year.  Fourteen percent decided to major in advertising while they were still in high school.
        Men and women varied significantly in terms of when they decided to major in advertising (X2=22.98; p<.05) with women tending to decide earlier.  More than forty percent of the women decided to major in advertising during high school or their first year in college while only 22% of the men decided that early.  By contrast, over two-thirds of the men (76.6%) decided to major in advertising during their sophomore or junior years and only 56.3% of the women decided at that point.
Advertising as a first choice of college major
For about half of the students (53.5%) advertising is the first major that they have chosen in college.  The other half, however, came to advertising after majoring in at least one other academic area first.  For about one-third of the students, advertising is a second major.  Ten percent selected advertising after leaving two previous majors and four percent selected advertising as a fourth or fifth major in college.  Women were more likely to have chosen advertising as their first and only major as compared to men (X2=4.37; p<.05) and students from the private university were also more likely to have chosen advertising first as compared to their peers at the public university (X2=19.11; p<.05).
Students who decided to major in advertising in high school or during their first year of college were significantly more likely to have advertising as their only major.  There was no significant difference in the grade point of students who had chosen advertising as their first and only major and those who came to advertising after trying other academic majors.
Students for whom advertising was not their first major were asked to indicate other majors that they had declared.  Business and other journalism majors were the most likely areas from which students changed.   Twenty-eight percent of the students for which advertising was not their first major had chosen first to major in business (excluding marketing).  Twenty percent first majored in other areas within journalism, thirteen percent from marketing, and twelve percent from the natural sciences.  Business and journalism were also the most common second declared major, while other journalism, psychology and sociology were the most common third declared major.  For those few students (2%) who had declared five majors during their college career, they had most recently switched to advertising from English.
Sources of information about the advertising major
        Students were asked to indicate all sources of information that were important to them when deciding to major in advertising (See Table 2).  Almost half of the students (47.3%) indicated that they were influenced by looking at ads in the media and more than one-third (34.3%) by depictions of the advertising profession on television or in the movies.  Other sources of information frequently indicated include parents (28.7%), friends (24.4%), college advisors (22.9%) and college professors (21.8%).
Male and female students varied significantly on only one source of information.  Women tended to say they were more influenced more by a job or internship than did men (X2=4.88; p<.05).  Students from the public and private universities varied significantly on two sources of information.  Students from the private institution were more likely to indicate parents (X2=8.74; p<.05) as a source of information about advertising as a college major and students from the public university were more influenced by a high school teacher (X2=4.05; p<.05).
Advertising jobs of most interest
        More than one-third of the students indicated that they were most interested in art direction (20.3%) or graphic design/layout (14.1%) as their preferred job in the advertising profession. Nearly one-fifth of the students were interested in account services (19.4%) and thirteen percent were not sure what job they were most interested.
Men and women did not vary significantly on their job interests.
Favorite and least favorite high school subjects
        Over half (51.2%) of the advertising students reported English as either their most favorite or second most favorite high school subject, followed by science (30%) and history (29%).  Only about 12% indicated journalism as one of their favorite high school subjects; slightly more (15%) indicated art.  Other courses mentioned included math, drama/speech, psychology and languages.
Men and women varied significantly in regards to their most favorite high school subject (X2=31.68, p<.05) with the majority of women preferring English (29.3%) and the majority of men preferring history (23.2%).  A greater percentage of men reported science as their favorite subject (16.8%) as opposed to women (12.6%); however a larger percentage of women preferred math (13.8%) as opposed to men (8.4%).  Men (11.6%) were more likely to select journalism as their favorite high school subject than were women (7.5%).
Math dominated as the least favorite high school subject among advertising majors with 47.6% of the students reporting such, followed by science (25.8%) and history (11.3%).  Almost eight percent of the sample said English was their least favorite subject.  None reported journalism as a least favorite in high school.  There was no significant difference between men and women or between institutions in terms of students' least favorite high school subject.
Most helpful college courses
        When asked what single college-level course that they had taken so far has been most helpful to them aside from advertising courses, students provided a wide variety of answers, but there was no significant difference between how men and women responded.  Almost one fifth of students (16.6%), said other mass communication courses such as public relations, media and society, news writing and reporting were the most helpful.  More than thirteen percent indicated some type of English course including creative writing, literature and poetry.  Psychology, sociology or marketing were each mentioned as a most helpful college-level course by approximately nine percent of the students.
Summary and Discussion
The findings of this study revealed that in the advertising major, women outnumber men almost 2 to 1, a ratio that is confirmed by enrollment records at both universities and by annual surveys of advertising departments (Becker et al., 2000).   Besides female students outnumbering men, there are several other gender differences.  Women reported higher mean grade point averages, chose to major in advertising earlier and were more likely to have selected advertising as their first and only major in college.  Women were also were less likely to label advertising as an "easy major" and more apt to say they planned to work in the advertising profession after college graduation.  An earlier study of advertising majors found women possessing more positive attitudes toward their statistics courses and toward their statistics professors (Fullerton & Umphrey, 2001).
Taken together, the above findings seem to indicate a considerably different orientation toward the major when comparing male and female advertising students.  It appears that some of the men may have gravitated to advertising as a "choice of least resistance" toward a college degree, while women tended to be more purposeful in their selection of the advertising major. However, further information is needed before drawing too many conclusions.  How do the differences in attitude between men and women toward the advertising profession link to human capital in the advertising industry?  For example, a greater proportion of women say they will work in the advertising industry, but is this actually the case?  There seem to be more female advertising majors, but are there more women working in the advertising industry? Do differences in their attitudes in college translate into different levels of performance in the workplace?
How do these gender differences impact future earnings in the industry?  Studies indicate that there is a gender wage gap present across all industries (Eide, 1994: Turner, 1999) partly due to the fact that women choose to major in "low skill" fields versus "high skill" fields.  Is advertising a low skill or high skill field?  Do business majors (cited as a high skill field) who work in the advertising industry earn higher salaries than advertising majors or art majors (cited as a low skill field)?  Are these differences tied to gender, job performance, or knowledge acquired in college?
Contrary to Kendrick's (1998) report on why students major in advertising, this study revealed that most students were aware of advertising as a possible major choice in high school.  Consistent with Kendrick's findings, however, most students decided to major in advertising after they came to college and did not report high school counselors as an important source of information about the major.  Students in this study listed television, movies and ads in the media most often as an important source of information about advertising.  Kendrick, however, found parents and friends ranking above the media as a source of information.  The differences in the two studies could be a result in how the question was asked.  In this study, students were allowed to indicate all sources of information, not just the most important source.
Providing additional information to high school counselors about advertising as a major is an opportunity to bring more students into the major at an earlier date, as would increased presence at high school and college career fairs.  Because students are strongly influenced by movies, television and ads in the media, a targeted campaign to promote advertising may be effective in attracting students to the major.  The American Advertising Federation is currently running a campaign that promotes the advertising industry by substituting the brand in famous ads for the brand "advertising;" this same approach may be helpful if targeted to potential advertising students.
According to the responses to attitudinal statements in this study, students are drawn to advertising because of the creative aspects of the major.  Over one-third of the respondents indicated that they want to work as art directors or graphic designers.  Students in the survey reported English courses including poetry, literature and creative writing as their most helpful college course, other than communication courses, and English as their most favorite high school course.  Advertising is one of the few majors on campus that combines creativity with professional business preparation.  Given students interest in the creativity, the creative aspect of advertising should be leveraged as a strength of the advertising major when recruiting students, particularly when comparing it to business or marketing degrees which offer similar career paths.
        This study also revealed that students' least favorite high school course is math, a finding that supports earlier studies that advertising students are math averse (Fullerton & Umphrey, 2001). As suggested in other studies (Fullerton & Umphrey 2001, Lloyd, Slater & Robb, 2000), professors should incorporate math instruction into the advertising curriculum by teaching math skills through case studies that require budgeting, analyzing market research, and calculating media audience size.
This study, though a limited sample, provides some insight into the motivations of students who major in advertising.  Further studies with larger samples could be helpful in improving curriculum and recruiting in advertising departments and therefore resulting in better-trained and higher quality students and professionals.









Table 1
Characteristics of the Students
Public University
Private University
Mean Age
21.27
20.78*
Year in School
81% junior or senior
75% junior or senior*
Gender
38.5% male/61.5%female
33.7%male/66.3% female
Mean GPA (self report)
3.09
3.06
% International Students
0
7.3%*
% ethnic minority
7.4%
18.2%*
*p<.05



Table 2
Statistics for rankings of agreement with statements
Mean, Median, Mode, Standard Deviation, and Variance

N
Mean
Median
Mode
Standard
Deviation
Variance
1.  When I graduate from college, I expect to work in an advertising-related job.
275
4.11
4.00
5
.95
.91
2. I majored in advertising because of the creative aspects
275
4.03
4.00
4
1.00
1.00
3. I majored in advertising because of the business aspects
273
3.43
4.00
4
1.08
1.16
4. I majored in advertising because it combines both creative and business aspects
275
4.03
4.00
4
.90
.81
5. Advertising attracts students because it is an easy major.
273
2.59
2.00
2
.93
.87
6. I majored in advertising because I find it interesting.
274
4.55
5.00
5
.59
.35
7.  I majored in advertising because I liked the introductory advertising course.
275
3.35
3.00
4
1.14
1.31
8. I majored in advertising because it would give me skills that would lead to a job when I graduate.
275
3.97
4.00
4
.78
.62
9.  I majored in advertising because of a professor or professors who teach it.
275
3.13
3.00
3
1.00
.99
10.  When I was in high school, I did not know that I could major in advertising at college.
275
2.75
2.00
2
1.33
1.77
11. Advertising courses are easier compared to your "average" course on campus.
275
2.60
2.00
2
.85
.72



Table 3
Statistics for rankings of agreement with statements
T-tests for differences between men and women

                                                            Female                      Male
N
Mean
N
Mean
t
Sig (2-tailed)
1.  When I graduate from college, I expect to work in an advertising-related job.
175
4.23
96
3.94
-2.522
.012*
2. I majored in advertising because of the creative aspects
175
4.03
96
4.02
-.105
.916
3. I majored in advertising because of the business aspects
173
3.38
96
3.54
1.174
.241
4. I majored in advertising because it combines both creative and business aspects
175
4.06
96
4.00
-.498
.619
5. Advertising attracts students because it is an easy major.
175
2.46
94
2.85
3.304
.001*
6. I majored in advertising because I find it interesting.
174
4.59
96
4.47
-1.637
.103
7.  I majored in advertising because I liked the introductory advertising course.
175
3.38
96
3.26
-.802
.423
8. I majored in advertising because it would give me skills that would lead to a job when I graduate.
175
3.97
96
3.96
-.131
.896
9.  I majored in advertising because of a professor or professors who teach it.
175
3.17
96
3.08
-.695
.488
10.  When I was in high school, I did not know that I could major in advertising at college.
175
2.71
96
2.82
.671
.503
11. Advertising courses are easier compared to your "average" course on campus.
175
2.50
96
2.80
2.864
.005*
*    Significant difference between men and women (p< .05)



Table 4

Sources of information about advertising as a college major


Sources of information
Percent of students influenced
Looking at ads in the media
47.3
Depictions of advertising as a career in TV or movies
34.5
Parents
28.7**
Friends/roommates
24.4
College advisor
22.9
College professor
21.8
Other
21.1
Advertising Professional with whom you are acquainted
18.9
Internship/Job
12.0*
Relatives other than parents
10.2
High school teacher
8.0**
High school counselor
3.6
High school career fair
3.6
Career fair
3.3

Total does not equal 100 percent because items may be checked more than once.
*    Significant difference between men and women (p< .05)
** Significant difference between types of institution (p< .05)

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