The Gender Shift in Enrollment Patterns in Higher Education: A Case Study of a School Administration Program

Abstract

Recent trends in higher education suggest that there are more women than men enrolled and that more degrees are being conferred to women across all levels at the associate, bachelor's, master's, and the doctorate levels (Hussar &Bailey, 2011; Wang & Parker, 2011). I offer theoretical perspectives about the rapid growing female enrollment in higher education, arguing that it is a major force in shifting college student demographics. The conclusions are based on an investigation of student enrollment patterns in a school administration program at a large comprehensive university in southeastern United States from 2000 through 2011. The results revealed that in this program, females outnumbered males by 2:1. Chi-square tests revealed statistically significant gender differences in enrollment patterns across age, semester, academic year, type of program, and type of campus. A further test using logistic regression analysis confirmed these findings. These results mirrored national trends where females now outnumbered males in higher education.