After learning from my alma mater, Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that there is a disturbing disproportion of women to men in the undergraduate colleges, I was reaffirmed in my intention to offer financial support to young men who might not otherwise choose to attend.
A recent viral news story reported that a generation of young men is abandoning college. In 1964, only 37% of college graduates ages 25-29 were women, with a majority (63%) being men. By 1987, women and men were on equal footing: half of all college graduates ages 25-29 were women, and half were men. The numbers fluctuated until 1996 when women clearly overtook men. According to a recent Pew Research Center report, men now make up only 42% of students ages 18-24 at four-year schools. Race and ethnicity do not explain this widening gender gap. Young white women who have finished high school are now 10 percentage points more likely to be enrolled in college than similar men. In 2011, the difference was only 4 points. If the trend continues, twice as many women as men will earn college degrees within the next few years, according to the executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse, as reported in The Wall Street Journal.
The reasons given for this development are varied and complex. Men are more likely to say that they didn’t feel they needed more education to succeed in a job. It is true that a 4-year degree is necessary for many professions traditionally seen as available to women, such as nursing, counseling, and teaching, however, it is not a prerequisite for “male” professions such as construction worker, electrician, and plumber.
Among the reasons some education experts put forward for the growing gap are that boys are more likely from early school years to struggle academically and to be punished for misbehavior, therefore avoiding school later. They are also more reticent to seek help, which can affect their attitude toward education from an early age. Research also seems to suggest that boys experience the negative economic impacts of poverty and of growing up in a single-parent household more acutely than girls, facts that may make them more likely to pursue low-wage jobs available right away rather than investing for the long term in a college education.
Nonetheless, the side effects of a worsening education deficit among men are serious. Men with bachelor’s degrees earn about $900,000 on average more than high school graduates over the course of their careers. Beyond the financial benefits, a college or university education offers other benefits, spoken of far less frequently. Even in a program that focuses on a profession, the college student is given opportunities for reflection and self-knowledge, not to mention the humanizing experiences of poetry, literature, philosophy, and religion that are otherwise hard to come by in a normal working adult’s life.
Finally, most important of all is the future of the relationships between men and women. Inequality in education and in exposure to the cultural heritage handed on through university study enables another level of power inequality and will not be conducive to happier families or couples.