I have read numerous articles in regard to the topic and they suggest that in more developed regions such as Europe and America, the proportion of women in all levels of educational institutions is increasing.
In higher education such as undergraduate and graduate studies, the percentage of women is higher than that of men. What are the reasons behind this phenomenon? What impact will this have on the future workplace?
In my place, we are used to a resource-extraction economy. Men usually go into those industries right out of high school and make much money. They can also go into sales in adjacent sectors, whereas women are somewhat excluded from this historically. So women go into professions that require education.
This explains why women outnumber men in our educational system.
This is the pure truth. Socially, men have more professional options. If I could have gotten a unionized blue-collar job without having to go to college, you bet I would have done that. I think this is the main reason women are outpacing men in education, although some other factors play a smaller role.
Even if women are doing better academically than men, the American education system is pay-to-play anyway.
This issue is becoming a real menace but some of the answers here so far are just unsourced biased opinions.
I will just take this opportunity to encourage people to go into Google Scholar and read about this issue. Or the easier one is to Google it and read layman’s summaries of the research from reputable news outlets.
From there I think they can give detailed and relevant responses.
Guys, have you forgotten that Ellen Condliffe Lagemann talked about this in her book, An Elusive Science?
In the past, men dominated the area of education, particularly since a large portion of it was in academics. However, as the demand for teachers increased, men in academia saw teaching as less important labor and so less important than women, and women were prepared to work for less at that time.
It is a great foundational book that every education entutiasist should read.
This has been a norm for a while that is why I am actually surprised that you are bringing it now.
In this era, many women need good jobs but don’t feel suited to trades so college is their road. For instance, my niece went into the Air Force, served on a flight crew which she did well, then came out to finish college and become an accountant. Able to afford a small house and the occasional vacation. Also cats, yes, a childless cat lady for Harris. I could nit be more proud.
Without a lie, I don’t have a worthwhile analysis of this, but from my observations as a high school teacher, girls tend to behave better and put more effort overall into their work on average. Which leads to them performing better in high school, getting into better colleges, and being better prepared for success at those colleges.
This is actually the right notion because nowadays, the more you tell women they can’t, they will.
My friend once told me that they as women are tired of being breadwinners and housekeepers.
This leads to more women becoming independent financially and getting a challenging job due to education.
I am a woman and what I can say is that women normally benefit more from education. On the other hand, men always have the option of going into labor-intensive trades. This leads to women studying hard so that they can reap the benefits.
With women’s empowerment increasing over the years, there is always a push for more women in male-dominated fields. The push has been there for a long time already.
Many people are pushing for education for women which is evidenced by programs for women to get them into STEM, scholarships for women only, internships for women only, and many more plans.
But something saddening is that despite women being the majority of students pretty much all you can see is getting more women into fields where the majority are men.