Gender gap in higher education. Social Sciences. Research Paper

Gender Gap in Higher Education
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Professor
Course
Date
Gender Gap in Higher Education
Over the years, males have always gained an advanced education than females. In many countries, more males than females advanced and got a higher education, thus getting more degrees (Katti, 2018). However, this trend has reversed, primarily disadvantaging men and favoring women. The gender education gap has reduced to the point where boys and girls share matching social environments and homes. Females' educational attainment now surpasses that of men affecting society in various ways, such as causing a shift in the labor market and patterns of family formations. This progress has been very puzzling, making contemporary economic growth, and has gained a lot of attention in sociology and economics literature. This essay argues the reversal of gender inequity in higher education by discussing various aspects associated with it. In spite of the persistent gender discrimination against women, their education has substantially expanded with a reversal or even gradual closing of the education gender gap recently.
Before 1990, most countries globally had averagely more male students than females, showing how gender inequalities had hindered females from accessing higher education. Although from that period, inequalities detrimental to men have risen in many nations, with females accounting for a larger percentage in higher education (Gleason, 2018). The rapid increase in women's participation in advanced education has led to a reversal in many nations' gender gap trend. As the years go by, more female students have continued to be enrolled in higher learning institutions, thus surpassing male students in the same institutions.
If gender trends in the past were to continue, the gender gap would be much wider, favoring men and undermining women and their capability; thus, various changes being made to curb this issue, which instead has led to a reversal in the gender gap, letting men now face the negative impacts of gender inequity. The current gender trends where females' ratio to males accessing higher education keeps rising has narrowed the gender gap in several nations while widening it to the favor of women in other nations (Robertson, Williams, Jones, Isbel & Loads, 2017). Although, this inequalities strengthening is mainly linked to the exceptional growth in women participation compared to men’s. If the current trends continue, the number of females in higher learning institutions is projected to be twice that of males.
How Education System Undermines Gender Equity
The education system has undermined gender equity for a prolonged period disadvantaging the women in the society who had limited opportunities for attaining higher education. Education itself is a gender gap determinant undermining gender equity in higher education and contributing to various outcomes education outcomes together with their developments (Sumadsad & Tuazon, 2016). For many years girls have been underestimated and seen as the less capable gender in understanding complex subjects and disciplines. For example, male students are seen as being capable of handling complex mathematics equations compared to girls. This concept enhances the gender gap because girls have to work much harder than boys to prove that they can deliver in subjects such as math. The mentality of associating girls with other roles that involve staying at home and taking care of families while performing other "feminine roles" made the community at large perceive them as less deserving of the higher education but instead were required to learn their gender roles, which are not taught at school from older females in the society.
The education system undermined gender equity by associating various courses with males and giving scholarships and other educational opportunities to more males than females. Females are now being encouraged to choose the courses they wish to pursue depending on their career choices, unlike before, when they were discouraged from pursuing courses that seemed challenging. Therefore, only men could pursue them, widening the gender gap that has become detrimental to male students. Females have also undertaken courses that are linked with masculinity, such as building and construction courses. Scholars currently have designed scholarship programs favoring females to encourage them to participate in higher learning (Varga, 2019). These programs have also advocated for females to be given equal opportunities as males or even more in higher learning institutions, which have learned to appreciate their participation even in co-curricular activities such as music and sports, further widening the gender gap in women's favor.
The gender gap has been reduced, although currently, it favors women. The education system changes have contributed to the reversal of the gender gap in higher education instead of reducing it, thus promoting gender equity. Many universities and colleges are now giving scholarships to more female students, especially those from gender-biased communities, and the same opportunities as males in choosing courses they wish to pursue. Many governments have also enacted several systems and acts to be implemented by education institutions to promote education among females and ensure they also participate in higher learning. Calls for gender equality in the education sector have made many institutions favor females in educational opportunities, thus forgetting the males, leading to a reverse gender gap instead of reducing it.
Females are now being viewed as having even more potential in education than men, thus being favored in attaining a higher learning position (Eboiyehi, Fayomi, & Eboiyehi, 2016). The assumption that girls have to work harder in class has declined among educators giving the girls a favorable learning environment to thrive and show their skills and explore them. This learning environment has contributed to the reverse in the gender gap, resulting in gender inequity.
Changes in education supply have affected females and males differently because, in most cases, they respond or adapt differently to these changes, thus contributing to the gender gap. For example, if education costs change depending on gender, females are more likely to adapt than men, thus creating the gender gap. Many changes in the education system have been made in favor of women and not men, thus contributing to the gender gap reversal. Although those in opposition may argue that changes in the education system have been made mainly to reduce the gender gap in education and not to cause a reverse, there are minimal changes seen to be applying to both genders because most of them favor the females at the expense of the males or ignore the males totally explain how the education system has promoted gender inequalities.
Another factor in the education system that has resulted in gender inequalities is the female teachers’ share in higher learning institutions. Most of the educators in these institutions are males who become role models to the male students leaving the female students with only few female teachers are role models thus discouraging them from aggressively participating in their studies (Varga, 2019). The impact of having role models as well as gender biases within educators’ behaviors may bring about distinct outcomes for girls and boys in the school set up. As more female teachers are being employed in higher learning institutions, the gender gap is narrowed or reversed, favoring the women, thus indicating gender inequality while altering gender outcomes. Students' performance is also affected by the teachers a certain institution has and the ratio of female to male teachers. The increased female population in learning institutions has also promoted gender inequality because the female students have become more confident and willing to participate in various activities in the institution unlike before where they would get intimidated or discriminated against by both teachers and male students’ contributing to reverse in gender gap and gender inequity presence.
Implications
Gender inequalities in higher education have various consequences, all that can be experienced in the short or long run. In the general perspective, female education increase has been influenced by various factors that have also been influenced by the same showing a possibility for reverse endogeneity and causation. Therefore it is important to assess if the increase in females' education, leading to a reverse in the gender gap, can be plausibly exogenous.
Growth and Development
The reverse gender gap in higher education has resulted in increased economic growth and development. The link between economic growth and the education gender gap is viewed because more women have become educated, thus working in various occupations generally boosting the economy, which relied on more men to work in the previous centuries (Ahmed, Pahi, Mozammel & Umrani, 2018). The reverse gender gap in higher education has minimized talent misallocation by giving women opportunities to boost the economy through human capital accumulation, specifically from females. Obstacles that have undermined human capital accumulation for a prolonged period indicate the gender inequalities that have been ongoing for many years, favoring men at both school and home in various skills developments and restrictions that undermined females' admission into higher education schools. The increased females' education has significantly contributed to the gender pay gap decline for many years.
Women's development and empowerment are strongly linked with economic growth, even in nations that exhibit low incomes. Women empowerment, which primarily comes from education, contributes to their development, which plays a significant role in minimizing gender inequalities (Van Broekhuizen & Spaull, 2017). Women's participation in various aspects of the economy as most of them have become business owners and entrepreneurs have significantly contributed to most countries' economic growth to the extent that their contribution cannot be ignored. Women have also become more powerful due to knowledge acquisition from higher learning institutions empowering female students to work harder and become more powerful while advancing their career choices and becoming more valuable to society. Increased female learning has helped them gain the confidence to address issues that have hindered them from being more productive in society and even encouraging them to rise against issues of gender discrimination against women. They have opened doors to many opportunities that they have embraced, thus contributing to the overall economic growth and development.
Family Structure
Female education is a significant factor that has impacted the family structure since women have become more enlightened on matters concerning family and marriage. Before increased female education, women viewed their roles as just taking care of the household, bearing children, and focusing on taking care of the. However, learning has exposed them to various roles and careers in which they have even outshined the boys in executing them. Women have embraced focusing on other life aspects such as learning and advancing in their careers instead of a family, which for the longest time has been their primary focus. The number of children per family has also reduced due to more females being educated and learning more about family planning (Kim, 2016). This factor does not mean that people are now less interested in childbearing. It just means that their priorities have shifted towards personal growth and development. Females have also embraced working and providing for their families, disputing the notion that men are the only ones who should be family breadwinners, thus gender differences narrowing in mate predilections.
Relationships with educated females have become more stable than in the past due to the end of aversion to relationships where the female status was dominant. Women's education has made couples come together and make decisions concerning economic and financial matters together, acknowledging the females' point of view, thus promoting respect and harmony in relationships. The increased female education makes females to be considered as responsible compared to their husbands.
Well-Being and Fertility
Technological progress brought about by higher skills returns has increased women's bargaining power in their labor market access chances, household, and bearing children opportunity costs resulting in a fertility decline. Many female students have postponed marriages despite reaching the marriage age to first focus on advan...