There are numerous personal decisions we all make that are influenced by social patterns. Failure to make the right decision can often lead to criticism, punishment, or severe social marginalization. Abortion has been a long-standing phenomenon that has garnered extreme polarization in opinions over the past few decades. In Australia, although the precise numbers of abortions performed are unknown, when published, it was approximated that 70,000 to 80,000 were carried out in 2005 (Abortion 2012). As widespread as the issue of abortion is, there is insufficient research on factors that contribute to the decision to terminate or continue a teenage pregnancy. Through a sociological perspective, this essay will seek to explore how education influences the decision to abort or carry a pregnancy to term. .
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An effective method of understanding how the decision on whether to abort or not can be done by utilizing the sociological method of seeing the general in the particular. Peter Berger, in his Invitation to Sociology, put the sociological perspective of seeing the general in the particular forward. He suggested that in order for sociologists to recognize the social patterns of life, they must identify patterns of behavior of particular group of people (Berger 1963). .
A study undertaken on a group of Australian women found that there was a positive correlation of abortion rates in teenagers and high grades, in most or all of their subjects (Evans 2004). More interestingly of the two groups of women that were tested, the group that favored mathematics, science, and social sciences were more inclined to abort than those in the group who preferred English and arts. In Australia, subjects such as mathematics, and sciences are very often socially defined and associated with academic advancement. With the gradual decline of traditional female gender roles, and the increased opportunity for women's advancement in the work place, academically orientated young women faced with the choice to abort or not, will therefore be pushed to abort in pursuit of higher education.
