Distributions of academic math-verbal tilt and overall academic skill of students specializing in different fields: A study of 1.6 million graduate record examination test takers

Using a sample of over 1.6 million scores of U.S. test takers on the Graduate Record Examination 2015–2020, this study broadly replicated prior findings going back over seven decades on overall academic skill and math-verbal tilt as a function of different field specialization. Individuals pursuing STEM degrees and STEM undergraduate backgrounds had stronger quantitative than verbal skills. Individuals pursuing arts/humanities degrees and arts/humanities undergraduate backgrounds had stronger verbal than quantitative skills. However, there were also differences regarding math-verbal tilt in the GRE relative to other samples. Academic skill patterns may be both a cause of or result of educational choices, and deeper consideration of these issues may ultimately have implications for expertise development for students who pursue fields such as the STEM or the arts/humanities.