Women value a college degree more highly than men do, survey finds

Chronicle of Higher Education : According to a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, women tend to value higher education more than men do. Of the approximately 2100 people surveyed, about one-third held a bachelor’s degree or higher. Most respondents agreed that a college education was necessary to get ahead in life and that college was more central to a woman’s success than a man’s. Women were also more likely to express concern about rising college costs. Since 1992 women have been outpacing men by significant numbers in college enrollment and completion. That increasing prominence of women in higher education seemed to inspire contradictory reactions. Although a majority of people surveyed welcomed the fact that more women than men were graduating from college, almost half of the respondents said it was a bad thing that fewer men than women were attaining college degrees. Racial and ethnic patterns also came into play, with African Americans being more reluctant to say the gender gap in higher education was a good thing.