Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Understanding Today's College
Men and Women:
Findings from a National Study on
Gender and the Student Experience
Prof. Linda J. Sax
Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, UCLA
Presentation to the UC San Diego Student Affairs
December 2, 2009
Headlines
At Colleges, Women are Leaving Men in the Dust
New York Times front page headline, July 2006
Disappearing Act: Where Have all the Men Gone?
No Place Good
Washington Post, December 2005
The NEW Gender Gap: Why Boys are Falling
Behind Girls in Education and What it Means for
the Economy, Business, and Society
Business Week cover story, May 2003
Total Enrollment in Colleges
and Universities
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998
Mill
ion
s
Women
Men
2004
Low-Income Women Make
Greatest Enrollment Gains
% Women Students Enrolled in College,
by Income Level
Low
Low
Middle
Middle
HighHigh
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Early 1970s Mid 2000s
Gender Gap Most Pronounced
Among Non-Asian Minorities
% Women in College by Race
53%
55%
60%
57%
63%
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
Asian White Hispanic Native
American
Black
Beyond the Enrollment Gap
What are gender differences in the characteristics of students who come to college? How has that changed over 40 years?
Do women and men experience college differently? Are there gender differences in the “impact” of college?
Data Sources
Surveys conducted by Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA
Entering student trends (1966 to 2006)More than 8 million students entering more than 1,000
baccalaureate institutions
Four-year longitudinal follow-up survey (1994-1998)
Key Gender Differences Among
First-Year College Students
Socioeconomic Background
Academic Self-Confidence and
Engagement
Physical and Psychological Well-
Being
Community Orientation
Socioeconomic
Background
Mother's Education
(% with College Degree or Higher)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
Pe
rc
en
t
Men
Women
Father's Education
(% with College Degree or Higher)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
Perc
en
t
Men
Women
Median Family Income of
Entering Freshmen (1966-2006)(in constant 2006 dollars)
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005
Do
llars
Men
Women
Data unavailable for the year 1967
Concern About Ability to Pay for College
0102030405060708090
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
Perc
en
t
Women
Men
Goal of Being Well-Off Financially
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
Perc
en
t
Men
Women
Academic Self-
Confidence
and Engagement
Self-rated Academic Ability
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
Perc
en
t Women
Men
Self-rated Mathematical Ability
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
Men
Women
Self-rated Competitiveness
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Pe
rce
nt
Men
Women
% Earning "A" and "C" Grades
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
Perc
en
t
Women "A" Grades
Men "A" Grades
Men "C" Grades
Women "C" Grades
% Earning "A-, A, or A+" High School GPAs, by
Time Spent Studying
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
<2 3-5 6-10 11-15 16+
Pe
rce
nt
Men
Women
Hours studied per week
Physical and
Psychological Well-
Being
Self-rated Emotional Health
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Perc
en
t
Men
Women
Self-Rated Physical Health
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Percen
t
Men
Women
Feeling Overwhelmed by Responsibilities
0
10
20
30
40
50
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Perc
en
t
Men
Women
Gender Differences in Time Allocation
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Student Clubs
1+ HPW
Housework/Childcare
1+ HPWVolunteering
1+ HPW
Studying
6+HPW
M W M W M W M W
Gender Differences in Time Allocation(percent spending 6 or more hours per week)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Exercising Watching TV Partying Playing Video Games
M W M W WM M W
Community
Orientation
Gender Differences in
Community Orientation(percent rating very important or essential)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
M W
Help others in
difficulty
M W
Influence social
values
M W
Participate in
community action
programs
M W
Promote racial
understanding
Gender Differences in
Volunteerism
0102030405060708090
100
M W
Performed volunteer work in high school
M W
Expect to perform volunteer work or
community service in college
Gender Differences are Evident
at College Entry, But...
Are there Gender Differences in
the “Impact” of College?
Are there Gender Differences in
the Impact of College?
Examined three categories of college outcomes:– Personality and Identity (11 measures)
– Political and Social Attitudes (8 measures)
– Academic Outcomes (7 measures)
Assessed how these outcomes were influenced by various aspects of college– Type of college attended
– Place of residence during college
– Financial situation
– Characteristics of college student body
– Forms of curricular and extracurricular involvement
Institutional and Student
SamplesStudent Samples
Institutional Type
Institutional
Sample Total Women Men
Public University 16 1,189 726 463
Private University 25 3,163 1,825 1,338
Public 4-Year 19 1,320 782 538
Private Nonsectarian 4-Year 52 4,373 2,677 1,696
Private Catholic 4-Year 28 3,721 2,291 1,430
Private Other Religious 4-
Year 64 3,871 2,600 1,271
Total 204 17,637 10,901 6,736
Proportion of Significant
College Effects That Are…
Percent
Identical for women and men 27%
Stronger for one gender 18%
Significant only for one gender 53%
Opposite for women and men 2%
Gender Differences in College Effects:
Examples Across Four Themes
Theme #1: Salience of Family Connections for
Women
Theme #2: Gendered Effects of Student-Faculty
Interaction
Theme #3: Academic Engagement is Especially
Critical for Men
Theme #4: Complex Reactions to Diversity Among
Male Students
Connection to Family
Attending college farther away
from parents predicts…
Gains in leadership confidence for women only
Increases in emotional health for women only
Gains in academic orientation for women only
Connection to Family: Implications for Campus Practice and
Future Research
Encourage parents to “let go” of their daughters
Be wary of the technology tether
Consider the needs of women who cannot go away to college
Study the consequences of women’s ongoing connections to family
How does the type and frequency of student-parent communication relate to students’ personal, academic and social development during college?
How does this vary by students’ gender, race and class?
Student-Faculty Interaction
Unique Effects for Men
Greater exposure to faculty predicts…
Gains in cultural awareness for men only
Increases in political liberalism for men only
Greater commitment to promoting racial understanding
for men only
More progressive gender role orientations for men only
Student-Faculty Interaction
Unique Effects for Women
Faculty not taking student’s comments seriously
predicts…
Declines in self-rated physical health for women only
Declines in self-rated math ability for women only
Declines in degree aspirations for women only
Student-Faculty Interaction
Unique Effects for Women
Receiving honest feedback from faculty predicts…
Gains in physical health for women only
Gains in drive to achieve that are larger for women
Higher college GPA's for women than men
Student-Faculty Interaction: Implications for Campus Practice and
Future Research
Probe on the student-faculty dynamic in counseling, residential life
Use orientation and first-year seminars to develop realistic expectations among students
Encourage faculty to reflect on their teaching practices and out-of-class demeanor with male and female students
Assess the qualitative dimensions of student-faculty interactions (quality vs. quantity)
How does the nature of student-faculty interactions depend on:– where the interaction takes place?
– the academic discipline?
– the gender of the professor?
Academic Engagement
Time devoted to studying and homework predicts…
Gains in political engagement for men only
Gains in cultural awareness for men only
Higher college GPA's for men than women
Greater academic confidence for men than women
Academic Engagement: Implications for Campus Practice and
Future Research
Consider strategies for facilitating greater academic
engagement among male students
Prioritize men’s involvement in high-impact
practices
– “learning communities, first-year seminars, writing-
intensive courses, student-faculty research, study abroad,
internships and capstone seminars” (Kinzie, 2007, using
NSSE data)
Should strategies for promoting student engagement
be different for women and men?
What specific forms of academic engagement are
most influential for women and men?
Exposure to Diversity
Diversity workshops predict…
Increases in commitment to racial understanding that are
larger for men
More progressive gender role attitudes for men only
Social diversity experiences predict…
Gains in cultural awareness, commitment to social
activism, and desire to improve race relations that are
larger for men
Exposure to Diversity
Some Challenges for Men
Diversity workshops predict…
Greater levels of stress or “feeling overwhelmed” for
men only
Taking women’s studies courses predicts…
Declines in self-rated physical health for men only
Exposure to Diversity: Implications for Campus Practice and
Future Research
Campuses should promote opportunities to learn
about diversity, but should provide resources for
those who may experience stress or self-doubt.
Consider why women seem to benefit less. Might
they need more advanced diversity programming?
Why are men more challenged/conflicted by these
experiences than women? Specifically what aspects
of diversity programming lead to which outcomes?
Would we find the same gender difference in
reaction within different racial/ethnic groups?
Getting to the Bottom Line
Campuses must be aware of and responsive
to challenges faced by both genders– For men: Access, academic engagement, civic engagement,
uneven response to diversity
– For women: Financial strain, stress, self-confidence, connection to
family, reaction to faculty
Engage in campus conversations– How are women and men faring on our campus?
– What changes should we make to programs or services?
– Who is “responsible” for addressing gender gaps?
