Changes in enrollment gender gap
February 28, 2010 by Jacob HawleyPosted in: Enrollment, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
For two decades, enrollment rates have been in freefall. But things are changing, according to an upcoming report.
Male college enrollment and graduate rates have stabilized at 43% overall, says an American Council on Education report (available for purchase here). The gap had grown steadily during the 1980’s and ‘90s.
Nationally, the gender gap was most pronounced for low-income students, older students (over age 25), and minorities. Why? Economic, cultural and educational factors.
Since wages for men with a high school diploma are (slightly) better for women, there’s more incentive to stick with their job than enroll in college.
But cultural aspects come into play as well. While women may be comfortable going back to college later in life, there is a social stigma that for men, enrolling later admits vulnerability.
For male minority students, who have continued to fall further behind female peers, this stigma starts at high school, where, for example, Latino graduation rates are also lower than average.
How do these numbers compare to enrollment at your school? Sound off in the comments section below.
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March 3rd, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Any slight female disadvantage in wages after high school cannot possibly explain the enormous female advantage in graduating from high school and going on to college.
The real explanation is that our K-12 educational system is set up by women and administered by women using female criteria for performance and behavior and providing predominately female role models of educational achievement.
Our colleges also cater to women’s interests with Women’s Studies Programs, Women’s Centers, Deans of Women’s Affairs and special programs like WISE to promote women’s interests in any area where they are less than 50%.
Poor boys, Black boys and boys without fathers bear the brunt of this systematic bias since they have the fewest resources to over come these biases.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:24 pm
The K-12 system in my community is not “set up by women and administered by women…” Children in our community schools attend one school for K-2, another school for 3-5, middle school, and then high school. We have 6 K-2 schools, 2 3-5 schools, one middle school, and one high school. The majority of the teachers at the lower levels are females, but this begins to even out at middle school and high school. There is only one female principal at a 3-5 school and one female vice-principal (out of several) at the high school. The Board of Education is also predominantly male and the District Superintendent is male. Men are setting up and administering these school programs.
Equal Rights for Men: I’m using the school system my children attend as an example. Do you have state-by-state statistics of numbers of women versus men in admistrative positions to back up your assertions?
March 4th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Nation-wide, over the last 20 years, we have moved from K-12 teachers and administrators being 80% women to being 90% women. Even among high school math and science teachers (the old “male bastion”) women are now the majority. My mathematically inclined son didn’t have a male math teacher until Calculus II his junior year of high school. Doesn’t he need role models too?
Cynthia, I’m surprised you would even contest the fact that K-12 is female dominated. Get out of your shell and open your eyes.
March 4th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
I’m still asking for specific studies/statistics, not generalizations.
March 9th, 2010 at 11:51 am
Why aren’t the general stats damning enough?
Maybe when we have men’s studies programs and heterosexual men are included in gender studies programs there will be more specific studies.
Until then we can look forward to more studies catering to the interests of girls and ignoring the ultimate result.