Gender differences in the pathways to higher education

Abstract

It is well known that far fewer men than women enroll in tertiary education in the United States and other Western nations. Developed nations vary in the degree to which men are underrepresented, but the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average lies around 45% male students. We use data from the OECD Education at a Glance statistical reports, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the World Values Survey to explain the degree to which men are underrepresented. Using a multiple regression model, we show that the combination of both the national reading proficiency levels of 15-y-old boys and girls and the social attitudes toward girls attending university can predict the enrollment in tertiary education 5 y later. The model also shows that parity in some countries is a result of boys' poor reading proficiency and negative social attitudes toward girls' education, which suppresses college enrollment in both sexes, but for different reasons. True equity will at the very least require improvement in boys' reading competencies and the liberalization of attitudes regarding women's pursuit of higher education. At this time, there is little reason to expect that the enrollment gap will decrease, given the stagnating reading competencies in most countries.

Keywords: discrimination; education; gender gap; reading.

Fig. 1.

The percentage of men among students enrolled in tertiary education (all age groups). Averaged data (black dots) from 8 OECD nations for which data from all years between 1985 and 2017, inclusive, were available. Of these, Sweden had the lowest percentage of men in 2017 (dashed) and Ireland the highest (green). The other included nations were Austria, Denmark, Finland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States (US). See Materials and Methods for further details.

Fig. 2.

Model of the main national-level variables that can predict the percentage of men enrolled in tertiary education. Because boys’ reading proficiency at age 15 y is lower than that of girls, the percentage of men in tertiary education is below 50%. The discriminatory attitude toward girls attending university reduces men’s underrepresentation. The existence of these opposite forces disadvantages both sexes but in different ways.

Fig. 3.

Predicted result of achieving equity in social attitudes and reading competencies. All points are predictions based on the regression model for the 2012 through 2017 period. On the y axis, the model’s predicted enrollment based on actual scores (Y'). The dashed blue line is the identity line (x = y). On the x-axis, the prediction under various conditions. (A) If university education is equally valued for boys and girls. (B) If boys and girls score equally in reading competencies (i.e., both groups score at the national average). (C) Equality in both social values and reading competencies. Note that ideal values in these two parameters still lead to an enrollment gap.