US-Colleges: Kluft zwischen den Geschlechtern wird breiter

Until the 1980s, more men than women attended and graduated from college. But by the 1990s, women had caught up, and soon they overtook men.

Despite increasing concern, the gap has widened steadily this decade. By 2007, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, a third of women ages 25 to 29 had bachelor's degrees, the highest proportion ever. For men, it was just over one-quarter, lower than it was in 2000. (…)

The trend is playing out in the gender ratios at many colleges. To maintain a balance between the sexes, some schools have worked hard to attract young men.

Seton Hill University in Greensburg is about two-thirds female. Though the former women's college began admitting men in 2001 and added a football team in 2004 to attract male students, it has yet to reach a gender balance.

While the athletic program has been a draw, admissions director Sherri Bett said, almost all the men who choose Seton Hill are athletes. Bett said the university was struggling to come up with ways to attract a larger and more diverse pool of men.

"We're always brainstorming ideas," she said. "One idea is scholarships (for men), but we don't want to be unfair." (…)

Dickinson College in Carlisle was two-thirds female in the early 2000s. Gradually, by reaching out to male high school students and, controversially, favoring male applicants, the college came closer to a balance. It now is 55 percent female.

"Gender ratio is so important," said Stephanie Balmer, the college's dean of admissions. "When you're building a class, you're building a community, and you want it to reflect the world in which they'll work and live." (…)

While the college does not actively pursue men, Daniel Obara, vice president for academic affairs, said the gender imbalance is a concern. He could only speculate as to its cause.

"There may be more incentives for women in education, in terms of job opportunities," he said.

Obara's theory is backed up by income statistics from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. A degree has a greater impact on salaries in fields that are dominated by women, such as health and education, than in fields dominated by men, such as construction and manufacturing.

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