We have heard for several decades that more women than men are going to college and earning degrees. But now the demographic shift is official: for the first time in history more women than men hold bachelor’s degrees.
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According to an Oct. 2015 report from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 was the first year in which the percentage of women with bachelor’s degrees surpassed that of their male counterparts. Last year, 30.2 percent of American women had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 29.9 percent of men.
These results shouldn’t be surprising — more women than men have been attending college for a significant period of time. Back in 1994, 63 percent of female high school graduates enrolled in college, while 61 percent of male high school graduates enrolled that year, according to the Pew Research Center’s analysis of census data. Over the years that gap has grown wider and wider. In 2012, 71 percent of women enrolled in college while college enrollment rates for men remained stagnant at 61 percent.
However, this is the first time the actual number of female degree-holders has exceeded men. The shift is attributed to younger women’s higher rates of college enrollment finally maturing.
Younger women significantly surpass men in educational attainment, while in older age brackets men are still more likely to have degrees.
Data indicate 37.5 percent of women aged 25 to 34 hold bachelor’s degrees alongside 29.5 percent of their male contemporaries. But only 20.3 percent of women 65 and above hold bachelor’s degrees, while 30.6 percent of their male counterparts do.
Additionally, The Pew Research Center found women belonging to minority groups are attending college at significantly higher rates than minority men. While Hispanic men and women typically attended college at equal rates in 1994, 76 percent of Hispanic women were attending college in comparison to 62 percent of Hispanic men in 2012.
Among black high school graduates, males attended college more frequently than females in 1994 by a 9-point margin — 56 percent to 48 percent. But in 2012, 69 percent of black females attended college after high school, while just 57 percent of black men continued their education.
It is likely that these trends will continue in the future.
“In the near future, women’s college attainment will continue to grow relative to men’s attainment, simply as a result of younger people replacing older generations,” Kurt Bauman and Camille Ryan wrote in a U.S. Census Bureau blog post.
Bauman and Ryan conceded trends may change and some evidence suggests men may be catching up to women. Furthermore, data from the past five years indicate an equally proportional increase in college enrollment among men and women.
