SCIENCE suits shy people. A Dutch study has found that introverted students are more likely to choose science subjects at school, while more sociable peers tend to drop them at the first opportunity – regardless of their natural ability. The study raises the question: should teachers encourage students to choose subjects that “fit” their personality or to break out of the mould?

Education researcher Hanke Korpershoek and her colleagues at the University of Groningen used data from a study which followed thousands of Dutch students throughout their education and included personality tests.

Korpershoek analysed data from nearly 4000 students and found that their subject choices at age 15 were affected by personality. Students who chose science subjects tended to be less extroverted than those who chose non-science subjects. They also scored more highly on conscientiousness and emotional stability (Journal of Research in Personality, vol 44, p 649).

The result remained significant even after controlling for the effects of mathematical ability and gender.


This is the first study to investigate how personality differences affect students’ subject choices, according to Korpershoek.

“There’s a feeling that science students have nerdy characteristics,” she says, “but we were surprised to see it in our results, and to see it as early as age 15.”

She reckons schools could do more to help students to choose subjects that match their personalities. While she says it would be premature to guide students based on personality tests, she argues that teachers should focus not just on a subject’s content but on the type of job it would lead to. For example if someone’s talent is being tidy, orderly and precise, then they might enjoy working in a lab.

Michael Reiss, professor of science education at the Institute of Education in London, counters that science teachers should try to attract a broader range of students. “It would be a disaster if the advice ‘you should only do physics if you are introverted’ was given in schools,” he says. “We want all students, whatever their personality, to find things within science that intrigue and excite them.”

It would be a disaster if you were told you should only do physics if you are introverted