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Gender Gap in Schooling Measures Pendulum’s Motion

By Bijoyeta Das
Saturday, October 3, 2009

BOSTON (WOMENSENEWS)--She is excited to leave the nest.

“College is a must. No questions,” said Taylyse Wornum, 18. She entered the University of Massachusetts at Amherst this fall as a freshman to study communications.

Young women like Wornum are increasingly outpacing men in the successful completion of high school and college enrollment.

Among Boston public high school 2007 graduates, 153 young women attended college for every 100 men, according to a July study by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, which prepared the report for the Boston Private Industry Council. Among those attending four-year colleges, the gap was even wider: 166 women for every 100 men.

Across the country, in every race-gender group, more women get degrees than men, said Andrew Sum, lead author of the study and director of the Center for Labor Market Studies. “That’s true for every degree level: associate, bachelor’s and master’s.”

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