Despite decades of work from both the academic and political worlds the achievement gap persists, reports a new statistical analysis from the National Center on Education Statistics.
The study, which reviewed data from 2010 and compared it to data from 2006, found that overall college enrollment was up, especially amongst women. The research shows that in 2010, as in every year since 1980, more women than men were enrolled in higher education, 47% to 39%, and completing their degrees at a higher rate, 61% of women versus 56% of men, and the pattern held across all racial groups.
Additionally the study provides detailed specifics regarding significant gaps in access to higher education between race and gender, and showed that a higher percentage of men than women were leaving college without completing a degree for financial reasons. A higher percentage of female than male undergraduates, 82% to 77%, received financial aid, and the trend carried across all racial groups.
Women were also more likely to work while in college, with 73% of women reporting having a job in school and only 70% of men. While the trend did carry across the White, Black, and Asian ethnic groups there was no discernible difference between employment levels among Hispanics, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, American Indians and multi-racial students.
Men also lagged behind women when it came to taking advantage of the opportunities available to student. Fewer male students, 72%, than female students, 77%, reported regularly meeting with an advisor during their first year of college. Also fewer male students, 33%, than female students, 37%, participated in clubs. The only place where male involvement exceeded female involvement was in sports, with 35% of first-year male students reportedly participating in sports versus only 23% of female students.
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