Current issue

College of Business E-Journal 

Spring 2025 Volume XX, Issue I

ISSN  number 2158-303X

I. Exploring Factors Associated with Selection of Career Choices Between Men and Women: An Exploratory Study Among High School Students  

ABSTRACT

As universities and businesses are encouraged to diversify, the personal decision-making of individuals plays a role in who is available for various positions. Some fields of work are male dominated, and others are female-dominated. Additionally, the gender pay gap has been an actively researched topic for decades. However, recent gender pay gap studies have shown that once job title, hours worked, years of experience, and education are included, the gender pay gap diminishes significantly. That is, differences in pay between men and women can be attributed to career choice, which is driven by personal values and preferences. Therefore, is there a difference in how men and women choose their careers? What considerations are deemed more important for men versus women? What is it that men versus women value in their career path? Understanding these differences in the thought process of choosing a career can assist universities and businesses in attracting a diversified field of applicants. The current research surveyed high school students to ascertain what they consider the most influential and essential as they begin their career choice journey. The findings show that although men and women consider some factors equally, family-related considerations, such as weekday work only, flexibility, and daytime work only, are found to be key to the decision-making process of women. Additionally, women were found to gravitate towards more “helpful and caring” careers such as education and medical while men were more likely to “work with things” and choose engineering.

Keywords:

Career Choice
Gender Pay Gap
Economics

by

Abdul-Aziz Khanfar
Student Researcher
Suncoast Community High School in Riviera Beach, Florida
abdul-azizkhanfar@hotmail.com 

&

Tammy Johnston, PhD
Professor of Economics
University of Louisiana at Monroe
tparker@ulm.edu 

&

Anna Grigsby
Graduate Student
University of Louisiana at Monroe
grigsby@ulm.edu  

 II. The River has its way: A perlustration of river and small ship cruising in the Great Lakes Region and Midwestern United States 

ABSTRACT

As the travel industry emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the river and small ship cruise industry is seeing strong consumer demand with bookings up 25% over pre-pandemic levels. New competitors offering new itineraries, coupled with experienced and well-regarded competition offering newly-designed ships, is helping to expand consumer options and interest. Concurrently, many consumers are showing a preference of traveling close to home to explore places they are familiar with but have never visited. This manuscript provides an overview of river and small ship cruise activity in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes region. Existing cruise options in each market are identified. Waterways offering possible growth potential in these geographic markets are explored. Finally, some of the marketing strategy and operational challenges of the industry are discussed. 

Key terms: river cruises; small ship cruises; leisure cruise industry. 

by

Paul Clark
Professor of Marketing
Coastal Carolina University

 &

Mark Mitchell
Professor of Marketing, and Associate Dean
Coastal Carolina University

 &

Michael Dowd
Lecturer of Management
Coastal Carolina University

 III. Lost Speedways Along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the Southern United States

ABSTRACT

Stock car racing migrated from the mountains and the piedmont region of the Carolinas to become a nationwide phenomenon. Today’s NASCAR races are held in established locations in fan-friendly speedways. However, in the early days of the sport, many smaller communities hosted NASCAR races, often only for a single year. Many of these race tracks that were located in small communities, often along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, are now gone. These 21 lost speedways of the coastal region of the southern United States are profiled here.

by 

Mark Mitchell
Professor of Marketing, and Associate Dean
Coastal Carolina University