Women outpacing men by degrees

[pmp6nl]

Women outpacing men by degrees
HIGHER LEARNING | Are 'feminized' schools failing boys?

January 13, 2008
BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter/[email protected]

Young women continue to earn college degrees at rates far higher than men do, and researchers are beginning to ask: Is the education system shortchanging men?

Figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week show one-third of women ages 25 to 29 have college degrees, up 1.2 percent from five years ago. But just over a quarter of men that age earned degrees, down nearly 1 percent in that time.

Figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week show one-third of women ages 25 to 29 have college degrees, up 1.2 percent from five years ago. But just over a quarter of men that age earned degrees, down nearly 1 percent in that time.


Nancy Daugherty, president of the Illinois chapter of the American Association of University Women, said her group was "pleased to hear" that women were doing so well.

She said "competition in getting and keeping jobs" has driven women to seek degrees at high levels.

Men of all ages still have more degrees than women -- 30 percent to 28 percent -- but while their degree attainment rate has remained flat for decades, women's education rate has climbed steadily. That's why figures for younger men are alarming, researchers said.

"The girls have made extraordinary progress, and the boys seem to be stuck in 1970," said Tom Mortenson, an Iowa-based researcher who is a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education.
Men urged to become nurses

Mortenson said females' progress is "wonderful" in an economy that increasingly produces white collar jobs in industries like health care, education, and business and professional services. For men, though, it's a different story. While in the past they could work without a degree in farm or manufacturing jobs, those higher paying jobs are drying up.

He says young men need to change their priorities. "If a man wants a really good job, he ought to train to become a nurse," Mortenson said. "Guys don't think that way. They'd rather play video games or work on their car or go hunting."

But he also blames a "feminized" school system. "It's a failure of the educational system to keep men engaged in learning long enough to get skills that are valuable in the economy we have today," he said.
28% of immigrants have a degree

Mary Dee Wenniger, who publishes the Madison, Wis.-based Women in Higher Education newsletter, agrees that schools aren't necessarily in tune with boys' needs.

"The education system has always favored those who are quiet and follow the rules and do what they are supposed to do," she said. "That requires a certain amount of maturity and acquiescence, which women seem to have a lot more of than men."

The census report, called "Educational Attainment in the United States," also found that immigrants' education levels are nearly identical to the native-born population, challenging perceptions that immigrants are unskilled and poorly educated. About 28 percent of the foreign born have college degrees, compared with 29 percent of those born in the United States.

But those immigrants who eventually become citizens are even more likely to go to college: 34 percent have degrees.

Fred Tsao, policy director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said the figures "reveal a hidden truth about immigration."

In fact, "incoming immigrants very often have skills and education that can benefit the entire country."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/738594,CST-NWS-DEGREES13.article

[Sal Atticum]

You found it!

It's interesting, at least.  My question has to do with this line:

In fact, "incoming immigrants very often have skills and education that can benefit the entire country."

I don't disagree with it, but I think he's making it appear that immigrants (which could be extended to "people in other countries") are smarter than Americans.  I don't think there is that much of a difference in intelligence, but I would suggest that those immigrants are more motivated than their American counterparts: they're motivated enough to move to the US, wouldn't that also make them more motivated to get a degree in the first place?

When they cite that "34 percent of immigrants have degrees," is that before entering the US, after entering the US, or was no distinction made?

[pmp6nl]

Yeah, I actually just saw that in passing.  I think there are some actual journal articles, but I havent had much time to look yet.

I agree with your observation on immigrants, I think motivation is a big problem in our society.

So how do we approach this situation?

[JakeJZG]

Mary Dee Wenniger, who publishes the Madison, Wis.-based Women in Higher Education newsletter, agrees that schools aren't necessarily in tune with boys' needs.

"The education system has always favored those who are quiet and follow the rules and do what they are supposed to do," she said. "That requires a certain amount of maturity and acquiescence, which women seem to have a lot more of than men."

BAHAHHAH!  Who gives this feminazi money?  Christ. 

The schools are designed towards the learning styles and needs of the female half of our species, and thus males have been ignored, abused, and left looking elsewhere to fulfill themselves. 

Thank you, feminism.