I read an article quite a while ago in US News & World Report on young ladies being rejected from Ivy League schools (primarily Harvard and Yale) that were more than qualified for entry. They are being rejected because these schools are struggling to maintain a ratio of male students that is roughly equal (or at least in the 48 to 49% range) of male students to female students. It is the first time that Harvard, Yale and other Ivy League schools have faced this phenomenon.
In 21 of 27 western developed nations, young women are equal to or constitute the majority of current college graduates. More than that, studies have shown that 15 year-old females in most western nations are far outpacing their male counterparts in academic achievement. Most universities predict a trend in rising female graduates and a declining ratio of male graduates. Even in Iran, the ratio of female university students to male students is nearly 2 to 1. High enough that the ultra-conservative Clerics have considered enforcing quotas to lower this ratio.
Higher female education rates have been linked to lower poverty rates in poor countries. It has also been linked to a reduction in disease and a general increase in the standard of living.
On the opposite end, higher education rates for women has been linked to lower marriage rates and a later age for first marriages. This has especially been seen in Northern and Western Europe, but in the United States as well. Women without a college education are more likely to be married younger and have more children than those with a college degree. Though that is by no means a hard and steadfast rule (also note that the rate of marriage is increasing amongst college graduated women, though still at a much later age). Note: These stats can be found at Rutgers State of the Marriage website...a good read for any data dorks ;
The one area where women are having a much more difficult time and it is still completely a "man's world" as James Brown would say, are the "hard sciences" and Engineering. Men still comprise nearly 70% of the university degrees earned in these fields, with a higher percentage in developing countries.
Also, the change has yet to be made in the workforce, where women are still feeling the effects of gender inequality in pay and some jobs are still gender dominated. The Nordic countries once again lead the way with very little difference in employment rates between men and women. In Mexico, Turkey, Spain, Japan, and Ireland the rate may very as much as 50%.
Interestingly, studies have shown that occupational segregation (i.e. X is a woman's field whereas Y is a man's field) is trending towards increasing in the future, not decreasing as many would expect with the educational trend for women. Questions over whether this is an area for Government intervention (a market failure?) or simply an area to leave alone are being debated in several countries.
What is not up for debate is that the future role of women in society is going to impact society itself. The role of the family, women in politics, women in the workplace, and issues such as pay inequity and occupational segregation will become more and more important as women themselves become the majority of the educated class.
What will society look like as these women begin to take their role in it?
