Gender Imbalance in Higher Education: Insights for College Administrators and Researchers

Abstract

University administrators often strive for racial, socioeconomic, and geographic diversity in their student populations. Today, administrators face a new demographic challenge as women increasingly outnumber men in applications, enrollments, and graduation rates. This article discusses the causes and potential consequences of the growing gender imbalance and the legality of admissions policies that attempt to restore balance by giving preference to males. Using multiple analytic approaches, we test whether a public institution with increasing female enrollments responded by giving preferences in admissions to males. We conclude with insights for administrators and researchers.

The Effects of Childhood Trauma on College Completion

“…Women increasingly enroll, attend, and graduate from college at higher rates than their male counterparts (NCES, 2013). Roughly, they comprise 60% of college students across the United States (NCES, 2013) and exceed this proportion among Black and American Indian students (Conger & Dickson, 2017;NCES, 2013). Women tend to have higher grade point averages during high school and are more responsive to supportive services such as financial aid, case management, and mentoring (Conger & Dickson, 2017).…”

“…Roughly, they comprise 60% of college students across the United States (NCES, 2013) and exceed this proportion among Black and American Indian students (Conger & Dickson, 2017;NCES, 2013). Women tend to have higher grade point averages during high school and are more responsive to supportive services such as financial aid, case management, and mentoring (Conger & Dickson, 2017). The growing gender imbalance leaves academic institutions in a unique position to determine how to better support their male students.…”

Academic Students’ Progress Indicators and Gender Gaps Based on Survival Analysis and Data Mining Frameworks

“…Educational planners and policy makers require reliable estimates for the distribution of duration of studies and completion rates in any particular period to predict future recruitment to industry or to the labour market in general. These estimates relate to institutional operations and funding; the longer the duration of studies the more funding is required (Kalamatianou and McClean 2003;Conger and Dickson 2017). Internal university management and the organization regarding academic and administrative staff, rooms for lectures and examinations, are based on such assessments, while, and most importantly, graduation rates are crucial performance indicators for university departments.…”

Counter-stories of First-Generation Latinx Alumnae: A Critical Race Theory Analysis

“…Today, the composition of students on U.S. college and university campuses has changed: by 2016, of the 19.8 million students enrolled at more than 4,000 undergraduate post-secondary institutions in the United States, 11.2 million were women (Selingo, 2013;Snyder et al, 2018). Women so outnumber men that some institutions have established a practice of affirmative action for men, accepting lower test scores, less community service, and lower grade point averages from male applicants while denying females with equivalent or superior credentials (Britz, 2006;Conger & Dickson, 2016;Gibbs, 2008;Jaschik, 2006).) There are additional opportunities for students from low-income families (meaning their families earn less than $25,000 per year) as well as added opportunities for African American, Asian American, Latinx, and Native American students (Davis, 2010;Knight-Diop, 2010; The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity, 2011).…”

“…First explained by Bell (1980), interest convergence is the theory that the needs of minoritized people will be accommodated only when those interests converge with the interests of the White majority. Convergence theory may be a factor in the development of programming to recruit and support first-generation students (Chun, 2013;Conger & Dickson, 2016;Davis, 2010;Espinosa et al, 2015;Mauro & Mazaris, 2016;Potter, 2016). As Backes (2015) wrote, a recruiting policy based on income or generational status is less likely to run afoul of either the law or popular opinion.…”