A record number of women are attending university, outnumbering men by a bigger margin than ever before, according to new research that says they could account for 70 per cent of student places across the UK by 2025.
By Julie Henry, Education Correspondent
The Telegraph
06 Jun 2009
Despite the mounting evidence of inequality, ministers and education quangos are doing little to address the problem because they are afraid of being accused of favouring boys, according to a major report by the Higher Education Policy Instititue.
Nearly half of young women, 49.2 per cent, are now enrolled in university, compared to just 37.8 per cent of men aged 17 to 30. The figure for white boys from deprived backgrounds is just 6.4 per cent. In 2008, 47,000 more women than men were accepted on to degree courses, up from 28,000 more in 2005.
The gender gap is now bigger than at any time since the 1970s, when men were dominant.
"The gender inequality in university participation now is greater than the reverse inequality over 30 years ago, " said Bahram Bekhradnia, director of the institute and co-author of the report. "But there is a mindset generally that girls are the disadvantaged group not boys. While this might still be true of society as a whole, it is emphatically no longer true in higher education."
University participation rates for women exceeded that of men for the first time in 1992/93 and have increased since. The research also found that women have higher participation rates across all types of university, apart from Oxbridge, where the gender split is equal.
There are more women than men studying all subjects, other than technology, physical sciences, architecture, building and planning, maths and computer science and engineering.
Men are over-represented in subjects that can bring high salaries and if they gain graduate-level jobs, they are, on average, better paid. However women have higher rates in popular fields, such as medicine and law, that can also lead to lucrative careers.
Women gain more first class degrees, while men are more likely to drop out. If they do graduate, men are more likely to be unemployed or in non-graduate jobs.
According to researchers, the university gender gap can be explained in part by underachievement at school, particularly at GCSE.
The study said that the switch from O-levels to GCSEs in 1988 coincided with the start of an attainment gap where girls overtook their male counterparts. Features of the GCSE, such as coursework and the requirement in maths and science to write a narrative to explain a candidate's thinking, rather than just using short proofs, favoured girls.
"Nobody has found an alternative to the introduction of the GCSEs that could plausibly explain the scale, speed and timing of the opening of a large achievement gap, so though we cannot be sure, the introduction of the GCSEs is the most likely cause," the study concluded.
While the nature of the GCSE can explain some of the gap, the study said that the picture in the UK was typical across the developed world. In most countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), women have caught up and overtaken men in university attendance, pointing to increased opportunities for women generally.
But a recent OECD report into the gender gap, quoted in the study, said that the share of females in higher education enrolments in the UK could reach 70 per cent by 2025.
Despite evidence of a growing problem, a "sanguine attitude" prevailed in the UK, said Mr Bekhradnia. The study quoted one Department for Education and Skills document which said: "It could be argued that the widening gender gap does not matter if this advantage either disappears by the time the girl enters the labour market or if it helps to ensure greater equality for women in the labour market."
Similarly a briefing report from the Higher Education Funding Council for England called Boys in to Higher Education, said that while sex inequality was clearly an issue, nothing should be done to imply "we are seeking to reduce the participation of girls or women".
"These remarks reflect the unfamiliarity and nervousness of policy-makers about measures to increase participation by boys," said the study.
A spokesman for Universities UK said: "This is a problem that the sector has been seeking to address for a number of years. We need to look more closely at the reasons why higher numbers of men are withdrawing from the education system.
"This question is one best addressed earlier in the education process. It is widely recognised that the main obstacle to widening access to university is achievement at age 16. Girls' improved performance in examinations has translated into university places."
Phil Willis, the chairman of the universities select committee said there was a risk that the problem of the gender gap could be overplayed.
"Of greater concern are the general numbers applying to the economically vital science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. There has been a 33 per cent increase in the number of undergraduates in recent years but only a 15 per cent rise in those studying STEM subjects."
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Ok feminazis, you have won. According to this study - 70% of students in University in 2025 will be women, which means ... well, we have to sort out the numbers -
50% are female, 50% are male (approximate)
100% of the students in college are male or female
70% will be female, 30% male.
These women who will be leaving college with degrees will go looking for a husband, AT SOME POINT - even the feminazis (mostly) do, at some point ... now, who will these college educated women get married to? The clerk at the gas station? How will that work out.
Feminazis have created this condition along with the educational system dominated by women - in an effort to create greater equality (which it isn't anyway) you will have women who will be unable to find a partner unless they look at 7-11's for potential mates.
The feminazis will say - women do not need to be married to be complete, and that bull is fine - set aside the getting married. How many university educated women want to date, even for one week, someone who has an IQ lower than their shoe size.
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