Female College Students Outpacing Males
In America, female students are outpacing their male counterparts almost two to one. Not only are there more female college students but they are outpacing males in areas that have traditionally been occupied by men--medicine, law, engineering, business, etc.
Federal statistics released two weeks ago show that within the space of just 20 years, women have gone from 22% on campuses to about 50% enrollment in professional and graduate studies. Females have been taught in one generation that they should explore all endeavors open to humankind, and they are heeding that teaching, says the Institute of Women's Policy Research.
The findings of a large educational report entitled, "The Condition of Education," argue that women now outnumber men on campuses by at least two million and that gap is growing. This female pool is not broken down by race, but it is clear that this demographic is true in the Black community as well. For years we have seen an erosion of Black males matriculating to college and a rise in Black females outpacing males in college education.
There is a lesson that can be learned from these statistic for Black Americans who too often have very low educational achievement levels: It only takes a short while (one generation) to change a downward trend in male educational goals if we work hard at it.
The above information gives Black America a clue to change. We know that Black children are like all other children: they will measure up to the standards parents set for them if they see those standards taught by precept and example. The problem of low Black educational achievement has nothing to do with lack of intelligence of Black students; it has to do with the lack of proper parenting in setting high expectations and holding their children to them.
Over the space of 20 years, women have gone from 22% of the college enrollment to over 50%. That achievement is impressive and can be replicated in the Black community as well. First, however, parents must understand the value of a college education, then they must insist early on that their children not only get a college degree but also take a graduate degree. To do less is not to love your child.
Simond Griote