209. Unstack the Odds--What About the Guys?

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by
Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

5. What About the Guys?

The 2010 Met Life Teacher Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive in the fall of 2010 on a national sample “. . . of middle and high school teachers, students, parents of public school students, and business executives from Fortune 1000 companies . . . .” indicated a gender gap regarding students’ desire to access college; indeed, the Survey found the following:
“In high school, a gender gap in college expectations emerges that does not exist in middle school. [emphasis in original.] In middle school, seven in ten girls (73%) and boys (72%) plan to get at least a bachelor’s degree. However, in high school, the number of girls planning to get a college degree increases to 83%, while the number of boys planning to get a college degree remains the same as the middle school number.” (The Met Life Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers, Part 1: Clearing the Path, Fall 2010, p. 9.)
http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/contributions/foundation/american-teacher/MetLife_Teacher_Survey_2010.pdf

A Time article by David Von Drehle discussed the performance of boys in the U.S.; the author indicated lower male performance, as related to college access and success. As he put it: “Meanwhile, fewer boys than girls take the SAT. Fewer boys than girls apply to college. Fewer boys than girls, in annual surveys of college freshmen, express a passion for learning. And fewer boys than girls are earning college degrees.” (David Von Drehle, “The Myth About Boys,” Time, August 6, 2007, p. 42.) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1647452,00.html

Von Drehle elaborated on the situation of young males in the U.S.--based on a report of the federal government, entitled America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007--as follows: “Statistics collected over two decades show an alarming decline in the performance of America’s boys—in some respects, a virtual free fall. Boys were doing poorly in school, abusing drugs, committing violent crimes and engaging in promiscuous sex . . . . The standardized NAEP test, known as the nation’s report card, indicates that by the senior year of high school, boys have fallen nearly 20 points behind their female peers [in reading].” (Ibid., pp. 43-44.) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1647452-2,00.html

As for matriculation rates by gender, an online post commented on the U.S. Labor Department’s report regarding high school graduates in the Class of 2009. Although 70.1% of all students matriculated, the gender breakdown was 73.8% of females but only 66% of male graduates. (Sara Murray, “Grads Head to College In Record Numbers,” The Wall Street Journal, April 28, 2010.) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703832204575210244203411342.html

Regarding enrollment figures, based on the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 43.1% of undergrads from 2007-8 in the U.S. were men, while 56.9% were women. According to an online posting, “women outnumber men at colleges and universities, though their numbers are more even at more selective institutions. Community colleges, less-selective private colleges, and especially for-profit colleges are heavily female.” (“Who Are the Undergraduates?” The Chronicle of Higher Education, December 12, 2010.) http://chronicle.com/article/Who-Are-the-Undergraduates-/123916/