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College Enrollment Gender Gap Widens for White and Hispanic Students, but Race and Income Disparities Still Most Significant New ACE Report Finds

Washington, DC (July 11, 2006)–The gender gap in higher education is widening among certain student populations, but is most striking among white and Hispanic traditional-age undergraduates, a new gender equity study conducted by the American Council on Education (ACE) concludes.  The gap is due primarily to a larger female share among low-income whites and Hispanics which has led to an overall decline in the male share of traditional-age students (age 24 or younger) from 48 percent in 1995–96 to 45 percent in 2003–04.

Gender Equity in Higher Education: 2006 is a follow up to ACE’s 2000 study Gender Equity in Higher Education: Are Male Students at a Disadvantage?  A short update was published in 2003.

Among the 2006 Highlights:

• Women outnumber men by almost two to one among the 40 percent of undergraduates who are age 25 or older.
• Despite continued growth in the percentage of female undergraduates, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to men is on the rise, as it is for women.

“Women are making gains in college participation and degree attainment, but their gains have not come at the expense of men,” stated Jacqueline E. King, director of ACE’s Center for Policy Analysis and author of the study.

“The number of men enrolled in college has increased, but not fast enough to narrow what is now a 57 percent female majority in total enrollment.”

College Enrollment

At the graduate level, men make up 42 percent of total enrollment. Men are still the majority in MBA, noneducation doctorate, law and master’s of science programs, but women have made strides in several traditionally male fields.  Women now have a slight majority in enrollment in medicine (51 percent), and other health science professional programs (53 percent).

At the undergraduate level, the percentage of students who are male has dropped from 44 percent in 1995–96 to 42 percent in 2003–04.  Since the 2000 study, women have maintained a 60 to 62 percent majority among the 40 percent of undergraduates who are age 25 and older.  In the case of undergraduates, race/ethnicity, age and income are important variables.

Trends Among Traditional-age Undergraduates (Age 24 or Younger)

• Among whites, a clear female majority has emerged since 1995–96, with the male share of undergraduates dropping from 49 percent in 1995–96 to 46 percent in 2003–04.  This change is due to a decline in the share of low-income white students who are male, from 48 percent in 1995–96 to 44 percent in 2003–04.
• Among Hispanics, the percent of students age 24 or younger who are male fell from 45 percent to 43 percent, due primarily to a drop in the share of low-income students who are male. 
• African-American males saw some progress with their share of enrollment rising from 37 percent in 1995-96 to 40 percent in 2003-04, but the gender gap is still largest in this racial group.
• Asian-American men are now at parity with their female peers after having been in the majority in 1995–96.
• Data for American Indian undergraduates are incomplete due to low sample size.

Bachelor’s Degrees

Despite progress by African Americans and Hispanics, the gaps in educational attainment between these groups and whites are larger today than they were in the 1960s and 70s. 

Significant gender gaps favoring women did not develop within each racial/ethnic group until the mid- to late-1990s. Since that time, the gap among whites has grown as the percentage of white women with bachelor’s degrees continues to increase while the percentage of similarly educated white men has remained essentially flat. 

Over the longer term, however, the share of white men earning bachelor’s degrees has increased, rising during the early 1990s to exceed a previous peak achieved during the Vietnam War era.

Other Trends in Degree Completion

• Women earn the majority of both associate and bachelor’s degrees and have done so since 1980 at the associate level and 1990 at the bachelor’s level.
• The share of bachelor’s degrees earned by women of color has tripled, from 5 percent in 1976-77 to 15 percent in 2003–04. The share of degrees earned by minority men also rose, but not as rapidly, from 5 percent in 1976-77 to 9 percent in 2003–04.

“The gender gap is important and should be addressed by educators and policy makers, but it should not obscure the larger disparities that exist by income and race/ethnicity for students of both genders,” added King. “Likewise, the fact that the rate of degree attainment has risen over time for both women and men should remind everyone concerned about male achievement that education is not a zero-sum gain in which a woman’s success results in losses for men.”

Copies of Gender Equity in Higher Education: 2006 (Item #311304) can be ordered for $20.00, plus $6.95 shipping and handling via the ACE web site.

Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.

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