How to meet women, for guys in their early 20s

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-men-are-the-new-college-minority/536103/

Why Men Are the New College Minority

Males are enrolling in higher education at alarmingly low rates, and some colleges are working hard to reverse the trend.

Jessica Smith raised an arm and pointed across the lobby of the university student center like an ornithologist who had just spied a rare breed in the underbrush.

“There’s one,” she said.

It was, in fact, an unusual bird that Smith had spotted, especially on this campus: masculum collegium discipulus. A male college student.

Women outnumber men by more than six to one here at Carlow University, where Smith is a senior and an orientation leader who was preparing to welcome incoming freshmen.

That’s an extreme example of a surprising shift besetting all of higher education.

Where men once went to college in proportions far higher than women—58 percent to 42 percent as recently as the 1970s—the ratio has now almost exactly reversed.

This fall, women will comprise more than 56 percent of students on campuses nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Some 2.2 million fewer men than women will be enrolled in college this year. And the trend shows no sign of abating. By 2026, the department estimates, 57 percent of college students will be women.

The new minority on campus? Men.

That’s an irony not lost on Jennifer Carlo, the vice president of student engagement and student affairs at Carlow University, which is trying all kinds of ideas to bolster its supply of men—including showcasing male college-success stories as examples to prospective applicants.

“It didn’t used to be that you were worried about providing role models and mentors for males,” Carlo mused.

Started as an all-women’s college by an order of nuns, Carlow has had a longer road to travel than most other institutions to balance its enrollment by gender; although it has admitted men to its degree programs for nearly 50 years, it has recruited them aggressively only since 2004.

The university is adding sports teams to attract more men, including men’s track and field this fall, and men are disproportionately represented in the promotional photos on its website and marketing materials. There are also new degree programs in fields such as business meant in part to appeal to men.

Carlow has a lot of competition. Reeling from a years-long decline in overall enrollment, colleges and universities nationwide are vying for all the students they can get, and suddenly paying new attention to bolstering the number of men who apply. “Oh, my heavens, yes,” Carlo said. The flow of prospective students has been dropping off for so long, she said, “you’ve got to have everybody.”

So while much attention has been focused on the controversy over gender-neutral bathrooms on campuses, she said, the much bigger gender issue behind the scenes at universities and colleges is how to draw more men.

Though advocates complain that few in higher education are doing enough to keep those men who do get there from leaving, there’s consensus that men’s reluctance to enroll in the first place isn’t necessarily the colleges’ fault. The problem has its origins as early as primary school, only to be fueled later on by economic forces that discourage men from believing a degree is worth the time and money.

“It’s funny that it’s the colleges that are finally seeing this issue and trying to resolve it,” said Patrick Maloney, the president of the Nativity School, a Jesuit Catholic middle school in the central Massachusetts city of Worcester that tries to aim low-income boys toward college. That’s because, by the time students reach college age, Maloney said, “It’s way too late. You’ve already lost them. Maybe [admissions officers] should be going into middle schools and start talking to fifth-graders about the benefits of college education.”

Or even earlier than that. The “anti-school, anti-education sentiment” in boys has roots in kindergarten, when they’re slower to learn to read than girls, said Jim Shelley, the manager of the Men’s Resource Center at Lakeland Community College in Ohio. Girls at the primary and secondary level worldwide far outperform boys in reading, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.

That disparity continues until, “by eighth or ninth grade, boys have lost interest,” Shelley said.

Many boys beyond that point perceive little benefit to college, especially considering its cost, said Jerlando Jackson, the director and chief research scientist at Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who has written about this. To them, he said, it means a lot of sacrifice for a vague payoff far in the future.

Low-income boys in places with the most economic inequality, in particular, suffer what one study called the “economic despair” of seeing little hope for financial advancement. “They think, ‘Well, I could just start out working in the mall and in six years make the same as a classmate who goes to college and whose first post-college job pays them less than I’ll be making then,’” Jackson said.

Posted by EvilHare
LOL

If I were in my 20s these days I'd be aggressively steer clear of colleges and universities.

They should take this as a sign and enroll in trade schools and apprenticeship programs where they teach you to be a productive member of society.

thats the popular conservative argument

It won't be long before people realize it was never a "conservative" issue as much as it was a "practical" issue.

The US has a rapidly aging pool of workers with hard skills. The shit WILL hit the fan one day and we'll be left with few people who can fix your plumbing or your car or the light switches, etc.

Fair. We do have too many colleges and it's too easy to get into college to get a worthless degree. But those who make the best of it, ie that dont pick worthless degrees ( http://www.thesimpledollar.com/10-worst-college-degrees-to-earn-in-2015/) and excel have better opportunities, and not everyone can have the same job. Regardless, at the moment it's apparently a good way to meet women if you're in that age range.

Plumbers make good money, especially if they are union. The trade skills make very good money.

This is actually ironic seeing how it wasn't so long ago that women were DENIED the right to education all together.

If men want to meet women they should start going to yoga. Js.

Posted by EvilHare

Posted by rabidtalker

Posted by EvilHare
LOL

If I were in my 20s these days I'd be aggressively steer clear of colleges and universities.

They should take this as a sign and enroll in trade schools and apprenticeship programs where they teach you to be a productive member of society.

thats the popular conservative argument

It won't be long before people realize it was never a "conservative" issue as much as it was a "practical" issue.

The US has a rapidly aging pool of workers with hard skills. The shit WILL hit the fan one day and we'll be left with few people who can fix your plumbing or your car or the light switches, etc.

click to expand

Most tradespeople make more money than white collar now anyways.

Posted by EvilHare

Posted by LadyNeptune

Posted by EvilHare

Posted by rabidtalker

Posted by EvilHare
LOL

If I were in my 20s these days I'd be aggressively steer clear of colleges and universities.

They should take this as a sign and enroll in trade schools and apprenticeship programs where they teach you to be a productive member of society.

thats the popular conservative argument

It won't be long before people realize it was never a "conservative" issue as much as it was a "practical" issue.

The US has a rapidly aging pool of workers with hard skills. The shit WILL hit the fan one day and we'll be left with few people who can fix your plumbing or your car or the light switches, etc.

Most tradespeople make more money than white collar now anyways.

Indeed but in the trades you don't get bean bag chairs, nap rooms, and free fresh fruit and espresso in the break room.

click to expand

People get so blinded by crap. All that stuff is just there to distract you from the realization that they are making a killing off of you.

Posted by EvilHare

Posted by rabidtalker

Posted by EvilHare
LOL

If I were in my 20s these days I'd be aggressively steer clear of colleges and universities.

They should take this as a sign and enroll in trade schools and apprenticeship programs where they teach you to be a productive member of society.

thats the popular conservative argument

It won't be long before people realize it was never a "conservative" issue as much as it was a "practical" issue.

The US has a rapidly aging pool of workers with hard skills. The shit WILL hit the fan one day and we'll be left with few people who can fix your plumbing or your car or the light switches, etc.

click to expand

By that time we'll have required courses in trade schools such as:

Indoor plumbing is misogynist and patriarchal.

Does the debate of A.C. and DC current indicate that the gender of electricity is fluid?

Why the use of coal and oil for heating is racist, and the wood alternative contributes to man made climate change.







And things will continue to not get fixed, and people will start talking about throwing toilet water on nuclear reactors to prevent a meltdown......

Posted by Reincarnation

Posted by EvilHare
LOL

If I were in my 20s these days I'd be aggressively steer clear of colleges and universities.

They should take this as a sign and enroll in trade schools and apprenticeship programs where they teach you to be a productive member of society.

Couldn't have said it better.

These small private liberal arts colleges especially are a complete scam.

click to expand

Looks like the scammers are trying to glom onto STEM curricula:

https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2017/08/engineering-education-social-engineering-rather-actual-engineering/

Posted by CancerOnTheCusp

Posted by Reincarnation

Posted by EvilHare
LOL

If I were in my 20s these days I'd be aggressively steer clear of colleges and universities.

They should take this as a sign and enroll in trade schools and apprenticeship programs where they teach you to be a productive member of society.

Couldn't have said it better.

These small private liberal arts colleges especially are a complete scam.

Looks like the scammers are trying to glom onto STEM curricula:

https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2017/08/engineering-education-social-engineering-rather-actual-engineering/

click to expand

A very good post in the comments:

"My best friend is a lawyer, bright, gifted, ... PhD in law; bored with his job, he decided to study engineering. After his first quarter, he came to me and said that the two 'C's he'd achieved in Engineering Calculus 101 and Engineering Physics 101 were the first two non-A grades he'd ever gotten in college, and that he had had to study harder for them than for any other dozen classes he'd had. 'I now understand', he said, 'why engineers and their like are so hard to examine, whether on the stand or in a deposition. When they say a thing is possible, they KNOW

it is possible, and when they say a thing is not possible, they KNOW it is not. Most people don't understand 'know' in that way; what they 'know' is what we can persuade them to believe. You engineers live in the same world as the rest of us, but you understand that world in a way we never will.'

"I don't think that you have to love math to be an engineer, but you are going to have to learn it. That means that you're going to have to do the homework, correctly. Mistakes and "close enough" are the ways to build bridges that fail."

@EvilHare

What makes you think people attending university will be incapable of being productive member of society?

Posted by Arielle83

Posted by rabidtalker

Posted by EvilHare
LOL

If I were in my 20s these days I'd be aggressively steer clear of colleges and universities.

They should take this as a sign and enroll in trade schools and apprenticeship programs where they teach you to be a productive member of society.

thats the popular conservative argument

Nope

click to expand

I dont care if people honestly think it's bad, so long it's their own conclusions and not something that was pre-thought for them and handed down to support "the party" they're in.

http://college.usatoday.com/2017/07/10/most-republicans-now-think-colleges-negatively-affect-the-country/

Most Republicans now think colleges negatively affect the country

If it wasn’t obvious enough already, new survey data from the Pew Research Center shows that the partisan divide in the U.S. is real, and widening – especially when it comes to people’s views on universities.

Though 55% of Americans overall believe that colleges and universities have a positive impact on the country, 58% of Republicans surveyed say that universities have a negative impact on the way things are going in the U.S.

Only two years ago, 54% of Republicans said that universities had a positive impact on the U.S. Now, only 36% say the same thing. That’s a 18% shift in public opinion since 2015.



The difference between Republicans and Democrats is equally as striking – while a majority of Republicans say that universities are bad for the country’s direction, 72% of Democrats believe the opposite.

The national survey, which was conducted in June among 2,504 adults, also asked Americans about their views on churches, banks, labor unions and the national news media. As journalist Derek Thompson noted, the partisan divide over college is even wider than the divide over the news media, though a larger majority (85% ) of Republicans say that the news media has a negative effect on the country.

The shift in Republican opinion of colleges has “occurred across most demographic and ideological groups within the GOP,” such as educational and age groups, according to the Pew report.

However, the difference between younger and older Republicans is still notable. While 52% of Republicans ages 18 to 29 say universities have a positive impact on the country, only 27% of Republicans 65 and older can say the same. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats share similar views across age groups.

Younger Republicans have expressed more positive views of colleges than their older counterparts since the question debuted in 2010.

Yet the percentage of Republicans under 50 who have a positive view of colleges has fallen a whopping 21 points since 2015 – from 65% to 44% . That’s an even bigger drop than the 15 point decline in positive opinion among Republicans 50 and older.

Social media reaction to the findings was, predictably, largely split along ideological lines.



Will this shift in Republican opinion have long-lasting consequences for universities?

Posted by CrimsonGirl
So what are you asking exactly? Do you want to know how to meet women or do you want to talk about how men are the new minority at colleges and universities?

Do you feel intimidated by this? Just genuinely curious...

I'm making conversation and commenting on the trends in the US at the moment. Also, not intimidated, if I was early 20's I'd go to college (again) and pick a good major (again). I have no proof, but I'm pretty sure while the upper elite in society will tell you that college is no good, and try to tell you to tell others the same, they are still trying to send their kids to harvard.

And based on numbers, still seem like a good place to meet women if you're right out of high school, especially if you have no money.

Posted by Arielle83

Posted by rabidtalker

Posted by Arielle83

Posted by rabidtalker

Posted by EvilHare
LOL

If I were in my 20s these days I'd be aggressively steer clear of colleges and universities.

They should take this as a sign and enroll in trade schools and apprenticeship programs where they teach you to be a productive member of society.

thats the popular conservative argument

Nope

I dont care if people honestly think it's bad, so long it's their own conclusions and not something that was pre-thought for them and handed down to support "the party" they're in.

http://college.usatoday.com/2017/07/10/most-republicans-now-think-colleges-negatively-affect-the-country/

Most Republicans now think colleges negatively affect the country

If it wasn’t obvious enough already, new survey data from the Pew Research Center shows that the partisan divide in the U.S. is real, and widening – especially when it comes to people’s views on universities.

Though 55% of Americans overall believe that colleges and universities have a positive impact on the country, 58% of Republicans surveyed say that universities have a negative impact on the way things are going in the U.S.

Only two years ago, 54% of Republicans said that universities had a positive impact on the U.S. Now, only 36% say the same thing. That’s a 18% shift in public opinion since 2015.



The difference between Republicans and Democrats is equally as striking – while a majority of Republicans say that universities are bad for the country’s direction, 72% of Democrats believe the opposite.

The national survey, which was conducted in June among 2,504 adults, also asked Americans about their views on churches, banks, labor unions and the national news media. As journalist Derek Thompson noted, the partisan divide over college is even wider than the divide over the news media, though a larger majority (85% ) of Republicans say that the news media has a negative effect on the country.

The shift in Republican opinion of colleges has “occurred across most demographic and ideological groups within the GOP,” such as educational and age groups, according to the Pew report.

However, the difference between younger and older Republicans is still notable. While 52% of Republicans ages 18 to 29 say universities have a positive impact on the country, only 27% of Republicans 65 and older can say the same. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats share similar views across age groups.

Younger Republicans have expressed more positive views of colleges than their older counterparts since the question debuted in 2010.

Yet the percentage of Republicans under 50 who have a positive view of colleges has fallen a whopping 21 points since 2015 – from 65% to 44% . That’s an even bigger drop than the 15 point decline in positive opinion among Republicans 50 and older.

Social media reaction to the findings was, predictably, largely split along ideological lines.



Will this shift in Republican opinion have long-lasting consequences for universities?

Tl;dr

I'm in Australia.

Uni is good to be a lawyer, nurse, doc, etc.

Trades make more money and are employable to the majority.

I'm speaking from my own experience.

click to expand

I know