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There’s also a concern that there’s a link between this gender differential and the growing divergence in college attainment (Associate and Higher) between younger and older adults in the US. Compared to other OECD countries, the US is experiencing declining competitiveness in education. In most OECD countries, a higher percentage of young people have earned degrees than has the older population, so the population, on average, gets more educated as time goes on. Only the US and Germany have a higher percentage of older people (the 45-54 year old population) with college degrees (2 and 4 year) than younger people (25-34 year olds). Worrisome for long-term global competitiveness. Details can be found a ton of places on the web; this presentation is just one place you can see all the data; slide 6:

http://wiche.edu/ppt/091707_csgwest_mythbusters.pdf

Check out slide 51 in this presentation, too, on the Educational Attainment of 18 to 64 Year Olds – Total U.S. Population vs. the Prison Population and tell me if the gender differential matters here:

http://www.cael.org/Conference_08/powerpoints/CAEL-Conf_NCHEMS.ppt

Yow.

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Much of the problem is the direction of the tendency: JMU, for instance, was 54 percent female in 1979, 60 percent now, a tendency matched by other schools. (At least one college has seriously considered affirmative action for underachieving males.) Think of that 12-percent gap growing to 20.

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The disproportionate success rates of males vs. females is formally being recognized as a problem.

…I was expecting a staggering difference between the percentage of males/females having college degrees. But when I read this…

According to the report, thirty-nine percent of women age 25-34 have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 31 percent of men.

…I was surprised that the difference was only 8%. I suppose we would expect it to be equal percentages (31% and 31%, or 38% and 38%), and thus an 8% difference is dramatic?

Do you know if this is now being seen as a problem because of the 8% (i.e. anything above 5% is a big problem), or because the 8% is a dramatic change from other recent indicators?

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For instance, some good-paying and/or respected jobs that don’t require an advanced degree “for men” (of course, women can do these jobs too, but you know what I mean) are: mechanic, computer technician, hvac or plumber, policeman, military, etc. Some good-paying and/or respected jobs “for women” are: nurse, teacher, retail manager, designer. The jobs women likely look at first require (or pay better) with a degree, where there are plenty of jobs “for men” that don’t require a degree.

If you can get a respectable job without spending $50000+ to get a degree, it makes sense to do that nowadays. Of course, I am a proponent of college education, since the long-term income potential is higher, but with costs rising, and it being more difficult to get a loan lately, etc. I can see why many people aren’t going straight into a 4-year university.

On another note, I’m not sure JMU is a good indicator of the whole country since there are so many women there to start with :)

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I haven’t really read up on it, but anyone know why this is becoming a nation-wide trend? I’m curious.

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