ERIC Number: ED446573
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 2000
Pages: 23
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Gender Equity in Higher Education: Are Male Students at a Disadvantage?
King, Jacqueline E.
This paper examines and refutes the hypothesis that white, male, middle class college students are falling behind their female peers in higher education. After an introduction, the paper focuses on gender gaps in the educational pipeline, discussing several indicators that could be used to measure educational attainment. These include high school graduation, preparation for college, immediate transition to college, college enrollment, persistence and degree attainment, and degrees conferred. The paper focuses on where males are underperforming, which groups of males are keeping pace with their female peers, and which groups of males are falling behind. It concludes that while women do earn the majority of degrees awarded each year, the gender gap is dwarfed by the educational chasms related to race/ethnicity and social class. Low income and minority men have a particularly difficult time excelling academically, but their female counterparts continue to lag behind whites as well. The message for educators, political leaders, and the media is to concentrate time, resources, and attention on the students who are in greatest danger of being left behind in the educational pipeline and avoid becoming distracted by crises that may have little basis in fact. (Contains 9 figures and 7 references.) (SM)
Descriptors: Academic Persistence, College Preparation, College Students, Degrees (Academic), Educational Attainment, Enrollment, Equal Education, Gender Issues, Graduation, Higher Education, Low Income Groups, Males, Minority Groups, Sex Bias, Sex Differences
American Council on Education, Fulfillment Services, Department 191, Washington, DC 20055-0191 ($15). Tel: 301-604-9073; Fax: 301-604-0158.
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: American Council on Education, Washington, DC. Center for Policy Analysis.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
IES Cited: ED492626