Women Outnumber Men at a Record High at US Universities

Women now outnumber men in American universities. Only 40% of college students in the United States are male.

Education experts in the United States are alarmed that the gender gap in higher education is rising. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit research group, men represent only 40% of college students in 2020-2021. This has been happening for years; in the last five years, men have accounted for more than 70% of the decrease in students entering US universities.

The gender gap in higher education cuts across race, geography, and economic environment. Before, white men were the predominant group in American institutions; however, the enrollment rates of poor and working-class white men were lower than those of young blacks, Latinos, and Asians of the same economic backgrounds, according to an analysis of census data by the Pell Institute.

According to information from the Wall Street Journal, after entering higher education in 2012, 65% of female students received their college degree in 2018, compared to 59% of men during the same period. This is corroborated by the director of the National Student Clearinghouse, Douglas Shapiro, who told them, “In the next few years, two women will earn a college degree for every man, if the trend continues.”

Before, many of the jobs women held did not require a college degree. However, starting in the 1970s, women began to enter jobs that required more education. Some professions that previously did not require a higher education now require a college degree, prompting them to enter university. But why 40 years later are there more women than men in universities?

On average, boys have lower GPAs

According to the ACT organization, which is responsible for taking standardized tests to determine how ready students are to enter a university, men tend to have lower grades, which hurts them in the admissions process. There are two main reasons this happens; First, the American educational system focuses on following the rules and organization of active learning. Second, there is a shortage of male teachers and college counselors, especially those of a minority. Although these factors have always existed, they have been aggrieved by changes in the labor market in recent decades.

Also, the college grade point average is not recorded regularly, but according to 2009 data compiled by the Wall Street Journal, it is about 3.10 out of 4 for women, compared to 2.90 for men. The gender gap is huge in English subjects, but they also score higher in math, social studies, and science. However, according to the ACT, this is not reflected in their tests. Although women continue to be proficient in English and social studies, men have higher levels of achievement in math and science.

Although both grades and test scores measure academic achievement, the former reflects students’ daily performance in an academic discipline. Still, it is affected by non-cognitive factors that are not direct measures of academic learning. For example, give points for participation, reduce points for bad behavior, inattention, or turn in late assignments. For the research authors, male students obtain lower grades because they have more behavior problems. In contrast, ACT results are a more accurate estimate of academic performance.

The ability to follow rules

For Jayanti Owens, a sociology professor at Brown University, many boys face a disadvantage in school from an early age. By the time they reach high school and apply for college, that hurdle is even more significant. A 2011 study for the journal Social Science Research found that girls begin their education with more advanced social and behavioral skills, which give them an advantage during the first six years of schooling, while boys have trouble paying attention or staying still in class. As the authors describe, psychologists classify many of these skills into cognitive self-regulation, self-discipline, effortful control, or executive function. These skills include planning, maintaining attention, effortful control of awareness or action, perseverance on task, and inhibiting impulsive responses. In addition, psychologists have a second set of skills, “emotional self-regulation,” which refers to controlling anger, sadness, joy, and other emotional reactions.

Another study from 2011 by the United States National Office of Economic Research (NBER) corroborates the results. Their evidence suggests that boys’ deficits in these skills could be a major factor preventing them from completing college. In addition, the greater tendency they have to misbehave and present behavioral problems become relevant factors for their relative absence. Even from preschool, you see the gender gap since boys are four times more likely to be expelled, according to the National Center for Health and Well-being in Early Childhood. The problem is that the more suspensions your school has, the lower your chance of getting into college.

For her part, Professor Owens researched the subject in 2016 and shows that behavioral challenges seen from preschool age can be significant predictors of whether boys drop out of high school or decide not to go to college. In addition to this, she believes that boys misbehave because the early education system prioritizes self-control and sticking to the rules. “You really do need to have high levels of self-regulation and self-control to be able to sit back and pay attention for that long,” Owens told Business Insider International. “So part of this is that girls are better able to do that, on average, and part of that is that you can get teachers to respond to boys who don’t do it as rowdy or naughty. That can lead to a kind of fulfilled self-prophecy, whereby boys who receive this message end up acting more, partly because they don’t have the attention skills and partly because they rebel against the idea that they are not good at school.”

Researchers agree that teachers often classify boys as more problematic than girls. The NBER study even mentions that fathers are more likely to read to their daughters than their sons and more likely to spank them. The way men are viewed helps deter them from seeking academic help. If teachers express themselves negatively about them and grow up believing that they are not good students, they are afraid to seek help. And kids can reflect this fear since the third grade of elementary school.

Because they lack cognitive and emotional self-regulation skills, many boys are classified as “bad.” This causes educators and counselors to be patient with or guide them, resulting in them not knowing what classes or tests to take to improve their chances of getting into college. Some find out what they need until their junior or senior year of high school, when it is too late.

Men are forced to work because of financial problems

In addition to dealing with behavior problems and lack of skills, many young people face the need to support themselves or their families. Previously, low-income men were the least likely of any demographic to enroll in college, yet due to COVID-19, monetary concerns have been exacerbated.

Another factor is the cost of college tuition. Many students see higher education as a problem because they do not have enough money to pay for their studies, supplies, books, and maintain their lifestyle. Adrian Huerta, an assistant professor of education at the University of Southern California, told Business Insider: “Financial stress is making young people say, ‘College is really expensive. Who is going to pay for it? Who is going to pay for my books? Who’s going to pay for my car? ‘

Owens added that “If you are a low-income child, you may have role models around you who have been in trades or have been in other non-professional occupations,” he said. “That is the example. that you have in front of you. “For many young people, it is easier to follow that familiar path than to dare to do things differently.

What can be done?

Due to the pandemic, the American education system has collective access to billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds. For Huerta, the best way to use that money is by putting two or three college counselors in high schools, including men of color. There is currently one for every 424 students. Having more access to early help can be a tremendous advantage for male students. For Owens, the funds should focus on early education, so preschool students have more active and hands-on projects rather than asking them to sit still in their chairs. Recruiting more male teachers at that level is also critical, he added. This would help prepare children with cognitive and emotional self-regulation skills.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the multi-university solution to balancing the scale focuses on accepting male applicants. Still, for the Pell Institution, the problem is not limiting admissions from institutions but analyzing the factors that caused it to exist in the first place. What do you think could be a solution to this gender gap? Please leave us your comments below.

Translation by Daniel Wetta

Paulette Delgado

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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0