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Stats Education

The College Majors Most Likely To Marry Each Other 90

Posted by timothy from the it's-actually-the-people-with-the-majors dept.
schnell writes: The blog Priceonomics has published an analysis showing students in which college majors end up marrying another student with that same major. Religious studies (with 21% of students marrying another studying the same field) tops the list among all students, followed by general science. Perhaps unsurprising is that some majors with gender disparities show a high in-major marriage rate among the less represented group — for example, 39% of women engineering majors marry a fellow student in their field, while among men 43% studying nursing and 38% studying elementary education do likewise. The blog concludes that your choice of major may unwittingly decide your choice of spouse, and depending on how well that field is paid, your economic future.
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The College Majors Most Likely To Marry Each Other More

The College Majors Most Likely To Marry Each Other

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  • With computer science classes typically 90% male, how are 15% of the people marrying eachother.

    I mean I know its statistically possible (so keep your smarter than thou bullshit to yourself) but seriously.. those odds are astronomical...

    • Because computer science classes are not actually 90% male.... the actual figure is closer to 80%, depending on the institution. I believe the actual average number of male graduates from computer science is 82% in the USA.

      Of course, that also suggests that computer science is an exceedingly likely place for a single woman who is interested enough in the field to have something in common with most of her peers in class is also quite likely to also find a mate. The exact opposite can be said for men.

      This is anecdotal, but almost all of the women I knew while I was taking computer science eventually hooked up with someone else in class before graduation. I do not know how permanent those relationships were after graduation, however.

      • The divorce rates for marrying in your major would be a much more interesting study. I would think engineering and CS would top that list.

        For the "grossly underrepresented group," though dating in your major is like shooting fish in a barrel.

        • The divorce rates for marrying in your major would be a much more interesting study. I would think engineering and CS would top that list.

          Engineers have one of the lowest divorce rates [lexfridman.com]. As an engineer married to another engineer, I believe there is a big benefit to having a spouse that has been trained to use logic and systematically solve problems. We settle most of our arguments by drawing Venn diagrams on a whiteboard. Having two six digit salaries helps too.

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by Copid ( 137416 )
            Same here. We think and solve problems similarly, so there isn't much "talking past each other" when we disagree. If a problem can be reasoned through, we usually come to agreement. If it's squishier, we both sort of recognize that it's probably not worth fighting to the death over. Money and worry about unemployment is never a problem, so we don't fight over it or nitpick how it's spent (in fact, we each have a mix of private and shared accounts after 10 years of marriage, and we each handle a subset o

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rossdee ( 243626 )

      I guess you missed the memo from SCOTUS - same sex marriage is legal now.

    • People with confluent majors end up working side by side in the field.

      I'm guessing it has something to do with that 80 some odd hours a week that a number of CS workers are forced into. When you have to spend 80% of your waking hours working, it kind of limits your dating pool.

    • Does that mean that for women in computer science, the chance of marrying someone in computer science is up >75%?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Yeah. I am still an unmarried single virgin after I got my CS BS major after 15 years. Where are those women for me? D:

  • Gender Distribution? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Edis Krad ( 1003934 ) on Saturday July 11, 2015 @12:28AM (#50087179)
    Seems to be this is more related with the gender distribution in each major more than anything else.
    Engineering and sciences have a high percentage of males vs females. Therefore is logical to think that any woman in that field has a lot of possible partners to choose from.
    The backwards can be said about Nursery. Mainly a female oriented vocation, any male nurse will have a rather large pool to select a partner from.
    Seems pretty obvious, I 'unno...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bondsbw ( 888959 )

      That's not the only obvious thing. People are college age at the same time in life that they tend to form more serious relationships, for the purpose of finding a spouse. People in the same college major spend more time with each other than with people in any other particular major. Combine these together, voilá, you get a nice happy statistic.

      • Considering this, I find the fact that the numbers of spouses with the same college major is as low as it is -- 10% on average according to TFA -- to be a little surprising.

        • Considering this, I find the fact that the numbers of spouses with the same college major is as low as it is -- 10% on average according to TFA -- to be a little surprising.

          Although common interest, mating opportunity, and optimum age would seem to promote these matches, there are other forces at work here.

          Some people want to get that degree and enter that work force before choosing a life partner. Many others get the education while they run a little wild as young adults recently freed of the bonds of high school and living beneath parental reign.

          And sometimes, spending too much time with another person actually works against the magic of attraction.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by swb ( 14022 )

        Didn't it used to be called getting your Mrs. degree?

    • hey im a nurse so fuck u

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        hey im a nurse so fuck u

        Sorry I can't. I majored in IT.

    • Seems to be this is more related with the gender distribution in each major more than anything else.

      Engineering and sciences have a high percentage of males vs females. Therefore is logical to think that any woman in that field has a lot of possible partners to choose from.

      That's probably part of it. But I also think it probably has to do with "ways of thinking." A person who chooses engineering as a major often tends to "think a little differently" from one who chooses math and physics, for example -- some people are more oriented toward "practical" solutions, while others are more interested in abstractions and "theory." (Obviously these are broad stereotypes, but they do have some basis as generalizations for many people.)

      Even more extreme divides in "ways of thinking

  • Pick of the Litter (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The blog concludes that your choice of major may unwittingly decide your choice of spouse, ...

    Or it could be that if you enter a field with a large gender disparity in its members, that implies you're willing to overcome any social stigma to engage in that field--ie, you're dedicated to it--and that by the same token you'll find plenty of people of the opposite sex to consider as possible spouse candidates. On the opposite end, because it's so uncommon to see members of the opposite sex in your own gender

  • Your summary is wrong (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The line "Religious studies (with 21% of students marrying another studying the same field) tops the list among all students..." is incorrect. Theology and Religious Vocations is at 21%. Religious Studies (which is connected to philosophy) is 43rd on the list at 5%. Theology and Religious Vocations is a completely different field from Religious Studies (a.k.a. the Study of Religions).

  • It's no surprise that many students pair with others in their major, especially in harder disciplines. You ask someone you find attractive if they would like to study for the big test. About two hours into it is the perfect time to trade massages to work out the study kinks. Whether you get back to studying is never guaranteed after that.

  • Are majors allowed to marry each other now?

  • ...observed in plenty of schools and jurisdictions. ;)

    The reasons are left to speculation of the readers...

    • I've watched enough television to know that female defense lawyers are ALWAYS married to - or at least dating - policemen.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ihtoit ( 3393327 )

        Ally McBeal? Nope. She dated other lawyers... oh, and a doctor.

        Take your pick of LA Law characters. I don't think any of the major characters dated a cop.

  • Most people I know started long term relationships with somebody they happen to spend time with, or that they are just nearby: same high school, same college, same circle of friends, same workplace. Study does not bring much information unless it is comparing likeliness of other situations like the ones I listed. Unfortunately I can only add anectodorial evidence. By the way, only a few ones were due to predatorial skills at night.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ihtoit ( 3393327 )

      funny that, in my high school Home class there were probably two couples some thought might have been an item. Not only did they end up getting married, so did three other couples. All in the same class.
       
      ...and I went to the same kindergarten as my wife. Only recently discovered a photo that proves it. (!)

      Dear Dice, fix your fucking edit box. I've had to use fucking [br] tags! AND WHEN ARE WE GETTING UNICODE SUPPORT!?

  • The blog concludes that your choice of major may unwittingly decide ... depending on how well that field is paid, your economic future.

    That insightful tidbit has really piqued my curiousity and I'm going to read the rest of that blog real soon now. Pretty soon I'll be a genius.

    • Yes who would have thought that going to school for years may actually determine how you make a living in the future? I wonder if there's a correlation in income vs. obtaining a trophy spouse. I mean if I were to make $500K/yr as a plastic surgeon would there be the potential in having a hot babe as a spouse? Hmmm. Hey somebody out there, I need a grant of say $10m to study this. Thanks.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by D4C5CE ( 578304 )

        if I were to make $500K/yr as a plastic surgeon would there be the potential in having a hot babe as a spouse?

        At least there'd certainly be more potential to turn your spouse into a "hot babe" (provided she's yearning to become part of your art). ;-}

  • My wife's a nurse, I'm a mechanical engineer.

    How does that work into the study?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Sique ( 173459 )
      Pretty well actually. As in your class, there were only a few women to begin with, chances of you to find a spouse there were minimal. Same for your wife, who probably hadn't had many men being in the same class.

      While many of your female co-students found a mate in the engineering class, and many of the male nursery students are now probably married to a nurse.

    • You are both leftovers. ;)

  • The classroom is a place to meet new people, as is the work floor. It just happens naturally there, people are partnered up to do tasks, you have to work together, etc. When you take a bunch of strangers and start to introduce them to one another, good chance that at least here and there romantic sparks fly. Add to that that most students are in their early 20s, an age for many people to start looking for a life partner, and the great number of marriages that follows is just expected.

    The greater number in r

  • "My college major was computer programming, and I married a girl who types in computer programs for a living!"

    "What's her name?"

    "Rosie."

  • Down at the bottom of the list is "Communications Disorders Sciences and Services" at 2%. Somehow that seems fitting.

  • someone with class and elegance, and who probably makes/inherits more money than you, you should spend your free time at a Trump hotel or Casino.

    • Donald? The Donald? That's you, isn't it?

      We read about your Mexican problem in the Times; are you trying to drum up lost business here on Slashdot? Let's talk.

  • This cannot stand. Two people with the same major marrying each other is completely against my just-now-made-up religion. It says that Frank (my just-made-up religions version of god) specifically wrote that "Thou shalt not lie with a fellow computer science major as you would with a psychology major".

    The government needs to make a constitutional amendment to prevent people of the same major from marrying each other. After all, if we let two people with the same major marry, we're on a slippery slope to marrying dolphins with snack cakes. And then where will it end?

    Yaz

    • This cannot stand. Two people with the same major marrying each other is completely against my just-now-made-up religion. It says that Frank (my just-made-up religions version of god) specifically wrote that "Thou shalt not lie with a fellow computer science major as you would with a psychology major".

      But is it OK if they both are stoned, which is probably something a lot of CS majors tend to do anyway?

  • OK (Score:1)

    by koan ( 80826 )

    Proximity.

  • The data does not at all suggest that your major will decide your spouse. I would suggest that this journalism major marry someone who had to take at least one statistics class.

  • Poor Headline (Score:3)

    by Fieryphoenix ( 1161565 ) on Saturday July 11, 2015 @02:52PM (#50089707)
    Come on Slashdot! This article should be titled "Most Incestuous Majors".
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