Overconfidence and Career Choice

Jonathan Schulz () and Christian Thöni

PLOS ONE, 2016, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: People self-assess their relative ability when making career choices. Thus, confidence in their own abilities is likely an important factor for selection into various career paths. In a sample of 711 first-year students we examine whether there are systematic differences in confidence levels across fields of study. We find that our experimental confidence measures significantly vary between fields of study: While students in business related academic disciplines (Political Science, Law, Economics, and Business Administration) exhibit the highest confidence levels, students of Humanities range at the other end of the scale. This may have important implications for subsequent earnings and professions students select themselves in.

Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Working Paper: Overconfidence and career choice (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0145126

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145126

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