And it works both ways. Psychology concentrator Alexa Fishman ’13 said that while she was unsure about what might lead to the skewed gender ratios, she thought her concentration might pull more females because of the perception of its post-graduation work.

“Psychology is a discipline where a lot of people go into counseling,” she said, adding that the stereotype of “lying on a couch and talking about feelings” might draw more females into the department.

“The default is, ‘Oh, this is what men study,’“ said Amanda I. Morejon ’13, a sociology and studies of women, gender, and sexuality joint concentrator. “That’s unfortunately socially constructed off these very old fashioned ideas—that men are logically based and women are more creative-minded.”

CONCENTRATING ON CAREERS

For many, economics serves as a pre-professional concentration of sorts, the closest many see to an undergraduate business degree, even though the department does not identify as such.

“My impression is that 50 to 80 percent of ec concentrators, by the time they are juniors, have a pretty good idea about what they want to do,” said economics director of undergraduate studies Jeffrey A. Miron. He added that finance, consulting, law school, and business school are the most frequently sought paths post-graduation.

Economics, the largest concentration at the College, has historically posted a higher percentage of male undergraduates; between 2006 and 2010, the proportion of male degree candidates ranged from 63 to 73 percent, according to the Harvard University Fact Book.

Rew said that career pressures may have influenced gender ratios in the social sciences, stemming from long-held perceptions of men as breadwinners.

“Women are less afraid to choose a non-conventional major like anthropology,” she said. “Although women may expect to pursue the same distinguished careers as men, I suspect that when choosing their college majors, fewer men than women are absolutely comfortable in exploring or committing to some of the less-traveled concentration options offered at Harvard.”

THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST

But Harvard classrooms show greater diversity in gender than classrooms in other universities across the nation. Because the ratios in the classrooms are not exaggerated as other national universities, students said that they can comfortably ignore any imbalance.

In economics, 70.2 percent of degrees were conferred to men across the country in 2009-2010, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Harvard awarded 63.7 percent of degrees in economics to men and 36.3 percent to women.The national percentage for degrees award to men in psychology nationally is 23.0 percent; at Harvard it was 29.5 percent.

The national percentage for sociology nationally is 30.6 percent for men and 34.1 percent at Harvard.

At Harvard, students said they don’t see the imbalances.

“Maybe I don’t pay attention to it, but I’ve never felt, ‘Man, there aren’t enough girls in this class,’” economics concentrator Jacques A. Barjon ’13 said.