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4B Daily News – Tuesday, December 20, 2011 The college graduation edge goes to women DALLAS (MCT) — It doesn't matter whether men go to one of Texas' small private colleges like Southwestern Uni- versity or a bigger one like SMU. Or whether they attend a mostly male school like the University of Texas at Dallas or a mostly female one like Texas A&M-Commerce. The men are all less likely than women to graduate. The only difference is the size of the gender gap. Men have long been outnumbered by women in higher education in the U.S., going back to the 1980s. What's drawn less notice is that they are even less likely to earn a bachelor's degree. While there's lots of talk of improving overall graduation rates and getting more minorities to earn degrees, few col- leges have sounded the gender alarm. Some experts say it's time. "If we lose these young men ... one has to wonder, what's going to happen? It has to be part of our mission to find out what's going on and what can we do," said Mary Hendrix, vice president of student success and access at Texas A&M University-Commerce, where women are nearly twice as likely as men to graduate. In Texas, 52 percent of men who enroll in public univer- sities graduate within six years, vs. 62 percent of women. Helping men close that gap could reap economic benefits for them, their families and the community. Men with only a high school diploma have much higher unemployment rates (11.3 percent) than those with an asso- ciate's degree (7.8 percent) or bachelor's degree (4.8 per- cent), according to federal labor data. In Dallas, 30 percent of adults have a bachelor's degree. Raising that by just one point _ the equivalent of some 38,600 college graduates _ could bring an extra $4.6 billion of income to the region, according to the group CEOs for Cities. "It is to our detriment if we do not start focusing greater attention on boys and the education crisis facing boys in this country," said Victor Saenz, an education professor at UT- Austin who studies college attainment. "It's a detriment eco- nomically, socially and in so many other ways." Women make up 57 percent of undergraduates national- ly, and they're projected to hit 59 percent by 2020. They also graduate at much higher rates. Experts have no single answer why but offer several the- ories: • Girls are socialized to ask for help and not cause trou- ble, and they have stronger verbal skills _ qualities that help them excel in school. •Young women enter college more prepared, with high- er grades and class ranks. •Young men are more likely to leave college early to pursue a job or the military. "You put all of those things together, and it's a success story for females," said Dana Dunn, a sociology professor and former provost at the University of Texas-Arlington who studies gender issues. At UT-Arlington, 35 percent of men graduate within six years, compared with 44 percent of women. The gap is even greater at Texas A&M-Commerce, with 26 percent of men and 46 percent of women graduating in six years. College officials there have analyzed grades, SAT scores and other data to pinpoint where and why they lose male students. "We've sat around and talked and looked at data, and it always goes back to, they are not prepared when they get here," said Hendrix. MCT photo Statistics show more more women are earning a college degree than men. For instance, while women make up the majority of undergraduates, men make up the majority of freshman remedial classes. A&M-Commerce officials found that stu- dents with high SAT verbal scores have a better chance of graduating — and women consistently have those higher scores. Hendrix has observed other things, like male students confessing they didn't read much until college. That affects the business school, a discipline that typically attracts more men than women. "Our male students have difficulty because they don't realize the amount of reading that's required," she said. Hendrix said A&M-Commerce has several programs to help graduate more men, including a mentoring program specifically for black men. At Southwestern University, a small liberal arts college in Georgetown, women greatly outnumber men on campus, and they have much higher graduation rates: 80 percent for women and 63 percent for men. College officials have had a hard time identifying why men are more likely to leave without a degree, spokes- woman Ellen Davis said. "Until you do that, it's hard to address the problem," she said. Southwestern is tackling the enrollment gap by bringing the football program back in 2013, having dropped it in the 1950s. "We're starting the program just to get them (men) here," Davis said. And if more of those men graduate, all the bet- ter. The graduation gap is smaller at UT-Austin, but it's still there: 77 percent for men, 83 percent for women. And the vast majority of undergraduates, both male and female, had finished in the top 10 percent of their high school class. In nearly every major field of study, from engineering to liberal arts, women at UT-Austin earn slightly higher grade point averages. "We don't fully understand it, and therefore it's harder to identify levers" for closing the gender gap, said Bill Powers, UT-Austin president. In July, Powers formed a group of professors and stu- dents to study ways to improve four-year graduation rates. The group is expected to issue a report with recommenda- tions soon. 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UT-Dallas' female students typically see themselves as trailblazers in these male-dominated fields, and they show Are you paying too much for life insurance? 5 3 0 - 2 3 3 - 0 3 3 4 persistence, spokeswoman Susan Rogers said. "Our impres- sion is they arrive knowing they will be in the minority, and that they are up for that," she said. Rogers said UT-Dallas officials don't specifically focus on gender when they're trying to keep students in school and working toward degrees. "We really think the key is to treat them as individuals and to identify their varied needs," Rogers said. The gender gap for graduation cuts across every major racial and ethnic group. At the same time, whites and Asian- Americans as a whole have higher graduation rates than blacks and Hispanics. Many experts say it's important to look at both race and gender when figuring out how to boost college completion rates. "Improving success among African-American and Lati- no males is a huge issue for Texas, and it's something we have to address as soon as children enter schools," said Ray- mund Paredes, the state's higher education commissioner. One reason women attend and stay in college is because they feel like they need to more than men, some experts say. Based on women's earnings relative to men's, they have a point. In 2009, young men (ages 25-34) with a bachelor's degree or higher had median earnings of $55,000, compared with $45,000 for young women with the same education credentials. The higher the education level, in fact, the big- ger the wage gap favoring men. "A lot of folks still find it difficult to reconcile that there is still this persistent wage gap across gender," Saenz said. "A lot of the work we have to do in equalizing the playing field is yet to be done." But experts say the jobs that men without college degrees have traditionally depended upon — in construction, techni- cal fields and the like — won't be as plentiful going forward. "The coming years are going to be very telling," said Dunn, the UT-Arlington sociologist. "One could almost pre- dict that we're going to see some shifts when you look at what's happening in the economy and the loss of the kinds of jobs men would find their way to when they dropped out." A new report from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce paints a pessimistic future for Americans with only a high school education or less. "There will be jobs for them, but in diminishing quantity," the report said, and only one in three of them will pay at least $35,000 a year. College graduates, meanwhile, "can find opportunity just about everywhere," the report said. "If the numbers in this report show anything, they show that going to college pays off — not just in higher wages, but in better jobs, wider opportunity and a shot at achieving the American dream." And that's why many experts say the gender gap in col- lege graduation rates matters. redbluff.mercy.org St. Elizabeth Community Hospital A member of CHW Christina M. Stanley, Agent 332 Pine Street, Suite H Red Bluff, CA 96080 CA License # 0E92084 December 21, 6pm-7:30pm Lupus/Fibromyalgia Support Group Columba, 529-3029 Visit redbluff.mercy.org or scan this code with a QR reader app on your smart phone to learn more information. Education Calendar Thursdays, 3-5 pm Grief Support Group Coyne Center, 528.4207