The majority of U graduates either choose to seek employment or pursue further education opportunities, while only a small number chooses to become homemakers, according to a new study of Utah universities conducted by the Utah Foundation.
Only Westminster graduates were less likely to become homemakers than those from the U, with 0 percent and 1.7 percent of graduates becoming homemakers, respectively, according to a report by the Utah Foundation.
Brigham Young University and Southern Utah University graduates were the most likely Utah schools to produce homemakers, with 10.4 percent and 12.8 percent of graduates becoming homemakers.
Robert Pak, research analyst for the Utah Foundation who participated in the project, said that regional differences in cultural and religious priorities “would probably account for much of the difference in becoming a homemaker after graduation.”
Results from the survey showed that religious orientation is a common factor in becoming a homemaker. Sixty-eight percent of U students who became homemakers were of the LDS faith while 87 percent of SUU’s and 99 percent of BYU’s graduates who became homemakers were LDS.
“Even with the assumption that it’s largely the LDS graduates that become homemakers, there are probably some major cultural and maybe even economic differences among LDS students at each of the schools that would account for some of the difference,” Pak said.
Pak also said that because the results of the survey were only indicative of one year, “it would be difficult to label anything as a trend.”