Question: The following research excerpts were extracted from Samuel Peng and Jay Jaffe's study (1979, Women who enter male-dominated fields of study in higher education, American Educational Research Journal, 16, 285-293). Based upon the information and data given, what conclusions would you, acting as Peng and Jaffe, draw?

Using data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972, this study examined 16 variables classified into categories of family background, high school experience, academic ability, life-goal orientations, and extent of education planned that might influence women's entry into male-dominated fields of study in higher education. (p. 285)

This study was, therefore, designed to examine ... factors that may influence the entry of women into male-dominated fields as they move from high school into college. ... The results will help to answer such questions as: What types of women defy strong sex-role stereotypes by entering male-dominated fields? ... (p. 286).

One variable presented is the academic ability of women sampled (with a scale ranging from a low of 15 to a high of 75). The field selected by each woman was classified on a scale ranging from 0 (almost exclusively a female-dominated field of employment) to a high of 5 (field strongly dominated by males).

(a) Is there any evidence that women of greater academic ability tend to select fields dominated more by men?

(b) Does knowing a women’s academic ability reduce error in predicting whether a women will select a male-dominated field, and if yes, by how much?

(c) A woman with an academic ability of 30 is predicted to seek what level of male-dominated field? A woman with an academic ability of 60 is predicted to seek what level of male-dominated field?