US: College 'gender gap' favouring women stops growing

More men are attending college and graduating with a bachelor's degree, reversing the tendency of female undergraduates to outnumber men and outperform them academically, according to a new report published last week, writes Eric Gorski for Associated Press. One notable exception is young Hispanic men, especially new immigrants, who are falling further behind Hispanic women.

Men account for 43% of overall college enrolment and earn 43% of bachelor's degrees - figures that have remained consistent since the early 2000s. However, the analysis by the Washington-based American Council on Education shows the disparity lies largely in the fact that men are much less likely than women to go to college, or return to college, later in life: undergraduate men age 25 or older are outnumbered by women in the same age group two-to-one.

'Traditional' students who head directly to college from high school are split between the genders. Men still lead in the number of PhD and masters degrees awarded, while the genders are about even in graduate programmes in law and business administration.
Full report on The Washington Post site