WSJ: Fewer men enrolling in college

[mahagonny]

A 90-10 school can be a good place to attend for heterosexual males and females who prefer to live a celibate life for the time being.

[Hibush]

Reminds me of when my Latin teacher in 9th grade (a married female) remarked that women planning to go to college should always check the gender ratio of men to women in the student population, so they'd be sure of finding a mate there.

At the time I thought she was serious; now, I suspect it was ironically said.

M.

When I was applying to colleges, Cal Tech sent potential women applicants a letter with their 90% male ratio as a leading reason to attend there. Needless to say, I ran screaming...

The problem is you want the ratio like 60-40, not 90-10. You want to be able to pick from a broad pool but not be harassed by a bunch of lonely horny guys.

Some of my HS classmates in the AP science courses looked at CalTech. This was know as "The Ratio" among female students there. Some considered it an advantage. Being in AP science classes didn't get you a lot of dates in high school.

[marshwiggle]

Some of my HS classmates in the AP science courses looked at CalTech. This was know as "The Ratio" among female students there. Some considered it an advantage. Being in AP science classes didn't get you a lot of dates in high school.

Anyone ever heard of research suggesting whether students' perceptions of belonging are affected more by the ratio at their institution versus the ratio in their discipline? Even at the places with large gender imbalances, the ratios will vary a lot by discipline.

[liszt56]

My undergrad school had such a ratio, not Cal,Tech but a similar male dominated engineering school.
I didn't have money to join a frat, but ended up being big brother in one of the few sororities.  I had a great social life in spite of 8:1 ratio.

Any, a common joke among my women friends back then was:

"The odds are good, but the goods are odd."

[mleok]

"The odds are good, but the goods are odd."

That saying was common amongst women at Caltech too.

[artalot]

Some years ago (2015ish) there was a study that examined gender and the college degree. The data demonstrated that white men without a degree often make more money than women with a college degree, especially women of color. So, yes, more women are getting degrees and graduate degrees. That's not necessarily because they want to; it's because women still have to be more credentialed than men in order to earn the same wage.

[dismalist]

Some years ago (2015ish) there was a study that examined gender and the college degree. The data demonstrated that white men without a degree often make more money than women with a college degree, especially women of color. So, yes, more women are getting degrees and graduate degrees. That's not necessarily because they want to; it's because women still have to be more credentialed than men in order to earn the same wage.

Those silly employers, hiring men for lots of money when they could be hiring women for little! Foolish, throwing money away, or paying for their prejudices.

[mamselle]

Since the population rate isn't in serious trouble, or at least not to the extent of depopulating the globe, what's the issue?

M.

[marshwiggle]

Some years ago (2015ish) there was a study that examined gender and the college degree. The data demonstrated that white men without a degree often make more money than women with a college degree, especially women of color. So, yes, more women are getting degrees and graduate degrees. That's not necessarily because they want to; it's because women still have to be more credentialed than men in order to earn the same wage.

I'm guessing that's ignoring the kinds of jobs white men consider versus women of colour. Construction (and other manual labour jobs) typically pay significantly more than minimum wage, but few women really want to do that. On the other hand, a Master's in Gender Studies probably doesn't really add much to one's employability.

So "women still have to be more credentialed than men in order to earn the same wage" given the differences in the jobs they consider.

[mahagonny]

Some years ago (2015ish) there was a study that examined gender and the college degree. The data demonstrated that white men without a degree often make more money than women with a college degree, especially women of color. So, yes, more women are getting degrees and graduate degrees. That's not necessarily because they want to; it's because women still have to be more credentialed than men in order to earn the same wage.

I'm guessing that's ignoring the kinds of jobs white men consider versus women of colour. Construction (and other manual labour jobs) typically pay significantly more than minimum wage, but few women really want to do that. On the other hand, a Master's in Gender Studies probably doesn't really add much to one's employability.

So "women still have to be more credentialed than men in order to earn the same wage" given the differences in the jobs they consider.

How about where one lives?

ETA: Also, if what everyone did for pay were the same thing as what they learned to do in college, then the group who is paid more would be getting preferential treatment. But that's often not the case.

[Hibush]

This discussion came to mind when I saw a recent report, that I can't find a link to, with a graphic of the jobs that were likely to have the greatest absolute increase in demand, and the typical wage.

The big increases in number were in the health care sector. But the health-care jobs were really split in two groups.

One end of the scale was health aides and the like. Almost exclusively women, no degree required, typically $15-20k per year. In the middle, nobody. At the other end of the scale, jobs requiring a degree or two and both men and women, typically ca ~100k per year. Nurse, doctor, PA, NP and hospital administrator.

With such non-normal, even bimodal, distributions, any study that reports averages or medians is completely missing the real story. There may be roughly wage parity at the high end, but severe discrimination at the low end.

If the latter is the case, then the question is whether health aides should really be paid more like plumbers' aides. Are their wages low specifically because it is a nearly all-female occupation (a remarkably common phenomenon).

[dismalist]

severe discrimination at the low end

Those women should compete for jobs in coal mining and trash removal. Truck drivers are doing better, as well.

Go for it! :-)

[ciao_yall]

Some years ago (2015ish) there was a study that examined gender and the college degree. The data demonstrated that white men without a degree often make more money than women with a college degree, especially women of color. So, yes, more women are getting degrees and graduate degrees. That's not necessarily because they want to; it's because women still have to be more credentialed than men in order to earn the same wage.

Those silly employers, hiring men for lots of money when they could be hiring women for little! Foolish, throwing money away, or paying for their prejudices.

Yeah... funny how that works. People are willing to pay to indulge their predjudices.

[dismalist]

Some years ago (2015ish) there was a study that examined gender and the college degree. The data demonstrated that white men without a degree often make more money than women with a college degree, especially women of color. So, yes, more women are getting degrees and graduate degrees. That's not necessarily because they want to; it's because women still have to be more credentialed than men in order to earn the same wage.

Those silly employers, hiring men for lots of money when they could be hiring women for little! Foolish, throwing money away, or paying for their prejudices.

Yeah... funny how that works. People are willing to pay to indulge their predjudices.

Yeah, employers [male] don't like women [female], and are willing to forego a lot of income to indulge their tastes.

[ciao_yall]

Some years ago (2015ish) there was a study that examined gender and the college degree. The data demonstrated that white men without a degree often make more money than women with a college degree, especially women of color. So, yes, more women are getting degrees and graduate degrees. That's not necessarily because they want to; it's because women still have to be more credentialed than men in order to earn the same wage.

Those silly employers, hiring men for lots of money when they could be hiring women for little! Foolish, throwing money away, or paying for their prejudices.

Yeah... funny how that works. People are willing to pay to indulge their predjudices.

Yeah, employers [male] don't like women [female], and are willing to forego a lot of income to indulge their tastes.

Yep. Why do you think that is?