Gender Divisions Across College Majors

Women are obtaining more then half of the bachelor degrees earned in America but that has not limited the earning and abilities of the working class man. Phyllis Rosser’s, Too Many Women in College? (2005) is used to expose the still continuing gender issues in higher education. It exposes the issue that yes, there are more women then men in undergrad and master’s programs but men are still outnumbering women in doctoral programs as well as higher paying fields of study (engineering, computer science, business). Still regardless of education women will still face the income gap. Comparing Lee’s and Shaw’s conclusion to the study by Investing in Futures Public Higher Education in America, Women in Higher Education both sources have come to the conclusion that women make up over half of students enrolled in undergrad and their is an uneven representation of women in math and science based degree programs. Janet Lee’s and Susan M. Shaw’s, Women’s Voices Feminist Visions Classic and Contemporary Readings is an accredited and well developed source that highlights the development of women’s

As discussed in a recent essay by Saul Kaplan “The Plight of Young Males”, there is a serious academic gender achievement gap in the United States and as I will discuss, around the world. Young women are doing significantly better than young men, and the results are shocking. In the latest census, males make up 51 percent of the total U.S. population between the ages of 18-24. Yet only 40 percent of today’s college students are men. Since 1982, more American women than men have received bachelor’s degrees. In the last ten years, two million more women graduated from college than men. As Kaplan reveals, the average eleventh-grade boy writes at the level of the average eighth-grade girl. He also states that women dominate high school honor rolls and now make up more than 70 percent of class valedictorians. Kaplan says, “I am happy to see women succeeding. But can we really afford for our country’s young men to fall so far behind,” (733)?

Since the early 1800s, women in higher education have been battling to overcome barriers to gain access to education, and equal career opportunities. Research posits that women have made significant progress through government legislations during the 1960s and 1970s, which eradicated some of the barriers of gender inequality. The research also supports that women are moving the needle in educational attainment and employment in higher education as students, faculty members and senior-level administrators. However, recent data suggest that there is still work to do to increase the number of women in leadership roles. Especially black women in higher education.

In the 21st Century the number of women enrolling in higher education institutions is surpassing the numbers of men enrolled. The graduation rates of women from high school and higher education are most often higher than for men. The number of women graduates from most professional occupations, including higher paying medicine, law and business, will exceed the number of men graduates in the near future. In numerous occupational areas with a majority of women graduates, salaries already surpass salaries in occupational areas with a majority of men graduates.

Equal Access to Higher Education: Believe it or not, until the 1970’s, some colleges and universities refused to accept women into their institutions. Why? The answer’s simple: education officials at the time

For each of the universities/colleges, they combined house more than 16,000 students of which 90% are African American, and there is a gender ratio imbalance of female to male. The gender ratio imbalance of these institutions allots the opportunity to determine the phenomena of “man sharing” among the female students.

In the article “End of Men” by Hanna Rosin, Hanna Rosin, a writer, a co-host of the NPR show Invisibilia, about the invisible forces that shape human behavior, she went to Stanford University, Rosin explains how over the years the women’s position has considerably ascended professional, educational and social. In this way, based on research she has demonstrated that all women have the capacity to carry any role that was considered against their nature. Nevertheless, it has been taken into account that women are still the minority in the top professional area. It has been taken into account that women are still the minority in the top professional area, with the women's empowerment this will change because of this: "Women dominate today's colleges

As a proud feminist, I was thrilled to discover that Columbia Engineering is a 47% women, and that the Dean of Engineering, Mary Boyce, is a woman. My AP Physics C class is heavily males and almost all the girls sit together in the back corner. When I sat front and center in the classroom, boys surrounded me because no other girls braved the front row. At Columbia, I know that I will be in an environment with enough women that we can all sit proudly wherever we feel comfortable, and if women are outnumbered, they will work together to have their voices heard just as loudly.

While this bill undoubtedly aligned with the mission and purpose of women’s colleges, there remains an unbalanced amount of representation of women in STEM programs and careers. “Globally, women remain particularly behind in participation at elite institutions and in traditional ‘male’ fields of study including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM” (Renn, 2014, p. 3). While the very existence of women’s colleges asserts their right to belong within realms of higher education, the work towards equity and inclusion must take place in all facets of life. “Even where women outnumber men in undergraduate enrollments and enjoy full access to higher education, women’s institutions act symbolically to remind society that in many other domains of public and private life, gender equality remains elusive” (Renn, 2014, p. 125).

Changes are also occurring on university campuses across the nation as more young women than men are now seeking and excelling in obtaining secondary educations at major universities. This simply means more young women are delaying getting married and having families till later in life which is a huge change in tradition and seeking professional careers instead. However, they face many uphill challenges both now and in the future since they are not seen as equals in the professional arena in these rapidly changing modern

Women worked tirelessly to challenge misogyny in education. The formation of ‘women's studies’ introduced women to disciplines like language, philosophy, psychology, and history and opened doors for female STEM majors (Encyclopedia). Women campaigned for educational reforms throughout education careers, and demanded changes in curricula and teaching forces to ensure that women were getting the same education as men. Some changes include home economics and survival courses not being gendered courses and the same curriculum for physical education classes. These changes in the education system made sexism in the new generations less common, a significant change from the previous generation.

For example, at Augusta University, women only compose 56 out of 148 administrative posts, and only 647 of the 1,481 teaching posts were filled by women or people of an nonbinary gender (Workplace Profile). The fact that women are so poorly represented in cases like this can have a great effect on the gender diversity of the university and the feelings of systematic sexism that students feel on campus. If female students don’t see women in teaching positions, it can make it seem as if they aren’t truly a part of campus, and that they are in a male dominated area of society. This can result in a sense of disentitlement in women and a sense of entitlement in men. As a student, I can tell you that the “mansplaining” in Zeilinger’s piece on sexism on campus, is a real thing. Like Zeilinger says, men think it's their place to interrupt women and explain the coursework as if they were a teacher instead of a student. This is a prime example of how the sexism in faculty appointment leaks over into student life, because it makes nonbinary students and women feel as if they are simply in a male space instead of in a space created and maintained for all students regardless of gender, making them less involved in class discussions and inadvertently allowing men to take away their

One educational phenomenon sweeping through colleges across the country is the significant outperformance of men by their women counterparts. This phenomenon has become so prevalent, that it made the headlines of newspapers across the nation, including the New York Times. After almost two years here at Syracuse University, I have learned a lot about myself, including my tendencies, my thoughts, and have even noticed the habits of others. When one is in college, the cognitive differences between men and women become evident and they tend to operate in completely mannerisms and interestingly enough, have different philosophies, values, and habits when it comes to education

Women have pushed forward in the struggle for equality. Today women are staples in the professional world. More women are attending college than men as proved in recent studies. Women have outnumbered men on college campuses since 1979, and on graduate school campuses since 1984. More American women than men have received bachelor's degrees every year since 1982. Even here on Haverford's campus, the Admissions Office received more applications from women for early decision candidacy than men for the eighth straight year. The wage gap is slowly decreasing and the fight for proper day care services along with insurance coverage for birth control pills are passionate issues for women across America.

In the us women with some college education have more opportunities for higher paying jobs and this has affected society by making women more independent. Having an education does not mean a job is in the near future. Having an education is a way to establish self-esteem, better one’s self as well as gain knowledge. Women’s colleges and universities persist around the world, even as the vast majority of tertiary institutions are open to men and women. In nearly every nation, women can attend even the most elite formerly all-male universities, and in several nations women are many of all college students. Questions therefore arise about the continued need for a single-sex sector in the 21st century (Renn , 2012)