Gender gap stabilizes nationwide, grows at MU
The economy, job market and other factors cause changes in student body.
Published Feb. 12, 2010
For the first time since 2000, the gender gap between men and women in higher education has stabilized, according to a study from the American Council on Education.
The study, "The Gender Equity in Higher Education: 2010," stated the distribution of enrollment and undergraduate degrees by gender has remained consistent since about 2000, with men representing 43 percent of enrollment and earning 43 percent of bachelor's degrees.
This is in contrast to information from previous studies documenting the gender gap that found data supporting a decline in men in undergraduate enrollment and an increase in women enrolling.
Despite the national numbers suggesting the gender gap is stabilizing, MU has enrollment numbers that show that the gender gap on campus has increased.
"This fall, 48 percent of our undergraduate student body was male, a slight decrease from fall 2008, when it was 48.2 percent," Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Ann Korschgen said.
Korschgen attributes MU's growing gender gap to various reasons.
"It depends upon several factors," Korschgen said. "If we see growth in some majors that typically enroll more females, such as nursing, health professions and education, we will continue to see an increase in females."
Korschgen said the slight decrease in males at MU is also academic-related.
Jeni Hart, an associate professor in the College of Education, whose research areas include gender studies, gave further reason for why some students with a specific career in mind might not choose to attend college.
"There are some fields that the pathway isn't necessarily a college degree," Hart said. "So, for example, some technology fields, college may not be the only route."
Hart said the state of the economy might be causing men to decide to attend community college.
On a national level, Korschgen said the economy and job market might be an incentive for more people to pursue higher education than to look for jobs.
"If the economy continues to remain stagnate, more men may enroll in higher education than taking a job right out of high school," Korschgen said. "If they enroll in higher education, they have a chance of making more money."
Hart said the G.I. Bill is another reason for higher male enrollment.
"We have people coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who are now able to pay for college with the G.I. benefits, and we are going to see more men in that category than women," Hart said.
According to the Gender Equity in Higher Education study, even with the gender gap stabilizing, women make up the vast majority of students in higher education.
"Women's share of graduate enrollment continues to increase, now reaching 60 percent overall, with tremendous variation by race, ethnicity, degree program and field of study," the study states.
Jacqueline King, assistant vice president of ACE Center for Policy Analysis and the author of the study, said the gender demographics on college campuses might have become the status quo.
"While the gender gap is important and should be addressed by educators and policy makers, these findings suggest the current female majority may be higher education's new normal," King said.