The Rise of Women and the Fall of Men

Despite the near-constant adversity, women and girls rose to the occasion and surpassed all expectations. Many did not expect women to be able to compete with their male peers because they were the weaker and fairer sex, not built for the stress and toil of education. Nevertheless, Thomas DiPrete and Claudia Buchmann state in their book The Rise of Women that “Women have not merely gained educational equality with men; on many fronts they have surpassed men by a large and growing margin” (1). When the women started to surpass the men, people began to fight back and blame the women. The high school and college completion rates began to decrease (and are continuing to drop to this day), and scholars, administrators, and random joes alike pointed to the feminization of education (DiPrete and Buchmann (74-75); Gershon). Most of their complaints were directed at the surge in female teachers, claiming that the “female-dominated education system was ill-suited to masculine energy” (Gershon). There were even concerns that “[Female] teachers were creating an overly feminine climate in the schools and intensifying their favoring of girls over boys” (DiPrete and Buchmann 159).

Females now account for more than half of college graduates. According to NBC News, 39.1% of American females have bachelors degrees in comparison to males with a rate of 36.4%. Furthermore, the expansion of educational opportunities, particularly in higher education, has opened doors for women to excel in diverse fields previously dominated by men. With more women pursuing advanced degrees and entering professional fields, there has been a notable shift in the demographics of certain industries, with women increasingly occupying leadership roles and making significant contributions (Gershon).

In contrast to the newly educated girls, boys did not match up well in the academic achievement arena. According to some scholars, “Boys were more often held back a grade, and less likely to finish elementary school or continue through high school” in comparison to girls who seemed to flourish (Gershon).

In a dissertation researching the falling rates of college completion in males, Jeffrey Hallman explains, “Male higher education students are expected to account for only 40% of the total college and university enrollment and only 40% of the total students who graduate with at least a baccalaureate degree by 2026 (Snyder et al.)” (59). This claim aligns with most of what public high schools see today. Men are falling behind in education for no reason that has been officially identified. Richard D. Johnson speculated in his article “Gender differences in e-learning: communication, social presence, and learning outcomes” that the “Gender Role Theory suggests that differences in communication patterns between women and men may actually provide women an advantage.” School is a social institution in which one would benefit greatly from conversing and partnering with other students. Johnson referenced a study that had been performed on females and males in e-learning environments and explained the results to be that “females communicated more, perceived the environment to have greater social presence, believed the course to be of greater value, were more satisfied, and performed marginally better than males.” The meaning of the results behind these studies is that despite being perceived as not able to perform the same as men in school, women have an advantage over men.

Another reason why the male or female gender might seem more proficient in certain areas in school is because past education affected the generations before us. The ideals and lessons taught in school during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s affected the children then and were passed down from generation to generation. In most schools during the mid-20th century, “boys got vocational classes, while girls got home economics and secretarial courses. Separate physical education classes stressed concerns about women’s health and biology while encouraging boys to engage in vigorous physical activity” (Gershon). Even though women were allowed to get a public education, they were still separated and not given equal opportunities compared to their male counterparts.