Education & Workforce Opportunity

Unfortunately, most of the readily available statistics on U.S. educational achievement, workforce demographics, wages, etc. are only disaggregated by “male” or “female” in terms of sex & gender. Yet each year, there is a clear difference in outcomes by sex – a difference that has been present for decades.

In 2018, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that just 38% of 18-24 year-old men were enrolled in college, compared to 44% of females. The 2021 Educational Attainment of Young Adults report from NCES found that male students lagged behind females in every level of academic achievement – from high school diplomas to Masters’ degrees. The report illustrated that among 25-29 year-olds, for every 100 women who have an associate’s degree there are just 89 men. For every 100 women with a bachelor’s degree, there are 88 men. For every 100 women who have a master’s degree, there are only 61 men. And for every 100 women with a first professional or doctor’s degree, there are just 80 men.
 

But it isn’t just advanced education that has a problem. Another unsettling trend is how far behind K-12 boys are in reading & writing. In a study of 3 million students from 1988-2015, 58% of 1st grade girls performed better in reading than boys & 2/3 of girls had better writing scores than boys. By 12th grade, 62% of girls were better readers. 

 

The U.S. has long conducted national assessments of student achievement & workforce demographics.

Those reports demonstrate a clear & long-standing disparity in outcomes when the data is disaggregated by sex.  

    The problem is more severe among traditionally underserved minorities, but this is a trend that cuts through racial, ethnic, & class divisions. On national reading assessments, the average score for boys in 4th grade is five points behind girls. That gap increases to approximately 10 points by 8th grade, & widens to roughly 12 points by 12th grade. In national writing assessments, boys score on average 17 points lower than girls in 4th grade (with African-American boys about 16 points behind African-American girls, & Hispanic boys scoring about 15 points lower than Hispanic girls). The average gap increases to 21 points in 8th grade (approximately 20 points for African-American boys & 17 points for Hispanic boys), & by 12th grade, boys average 24 points lower than girls on tests of writing skills (about 21 points for African-American boys, & about 22 points for Hispanic boys).

    When it comes to disciplinary action, the disparities grow even larger. In 2017-2018 (the most recent data available), NCES found that male K-12 students received a shocking 70.5% (1,771,161) of the 2,510,919 out-of-school suspensions compared to females’ 29.5% (739,758). That same school year, out of 101,958 total expulsions in K-12 schools across the country, male students accounted for a disturbing 72.8% (74,202) compared to female students receiving just 27.2% (27,756). 

    These disparities have moved into our workforce, as well. In September 2022, Pew Research Center reported that “women now outnumber men (50.7%) in the U.S. college-educated workforce.” In March 2022, Pew discovered that young women are out-earning young men in several U.S. cities. The report states: “In fact, in 22 of 250 U.S. metropolitan areas, women under the age of 30 earn the same amount as or more than their male counterparts, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.”

    e treated leniently not because of their gender alone, but rather due to the responsibilities they are expected to uphold in the family.”

    Sources

    National Center for Education Statistics

    US Department of Education

    Pew Research Center

    US Census Bureau