Researchers at the University of Groningen analyzing data on nearly 4000 students found that their subject choices at age 15 were affected by personality, NewScientist.com reported.
Students choosing science subjects tended to be less extroverted than those who chose non-science subjects and scored more highly on conscientiousness and emotional stability, education researcher Hanke Korpershoek said.
"There is 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."
While she says she's not recommending guiding 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 might lead to.