For the past several years, educators have raised concerns about the shortage of men in higher education, when compared to women. Some despaired of the "Lost Boys" and a few commentators suggested affirmative action programs to remedy the situation. Most recognize that the larger economy is a major driving force of this phenomenon, with many jobs that do not necessitate higher education (truck driving, construction, etc.) often being sought and filled by males rather than females.
Interestingly, however, the gender gap in undergraduate enrollment appears to have slowed down for most demographic categories, according to a report released recently by the American Council on Education.
"The percentage of undergraduates at community and four-year colleges who were male hovered between 42 percent and 44 percent from the 1995-1996 academic year to 2007-2008, the last year for which data was available," says the report, Gender Equity in Higher Education: 2010. Among undergraduates who were black or age 25 and older, even smaller proportions were male, but the ratio of women to men in those groups was relatively stable over that same period.
At first blush it appears that the recession may accelerate this trend, as unemployed men go back to school.
However, enrollment gaps continued to widen between Hispanic men and women. The percentage of Hispanic male students age 24 or younger enrolled in undergraduate programs fell from 45 percent in 1999 to 42 percent in 2007.
The above information is derived mostly from an article by Andrea Fuller in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription).
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