Is the Gender Gap in College Enrollment Influenced by Nonmarital Birth Rates and Father Absence?

• Author: Jason L. Wilde,William J. Doherty,Brian J. Willoughby
• Published date: 01 April 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12157
• Date: 01 April 2016

W J. D University of Minnesota

B J. W Brigham Young University∗

J L. W University of Minnesota∗∗

Is the Gender Gap in College Enrollment Inuenced

by Nonmarital Birth Rates and Father Absence?

There is considerable academic and popular

concern about the increasing gender gap in

higher education enrollment in the United

States. Males now constitute just 43% of

the postsecondary enrollment. This research

focused on nonmarital birth and father absence

as predictors of lower levels of college enroll-

ment for boys versus girls. The authors present

two studies. In Study 1, using population data

on college attendance and nonmarital birth

rates, they found a strong positive association

between nonmarital birth rates and the gender

gap in college enrollment 18 years later. In

Study 2, they examined individual-level data on

father absence from birth and collegeenrollment

among young adults. The results indicated that

males were at greater risk than females of not

attending college if they had experienced father

absence from birth. Taken together, the 2 studies

suggest that changes in family structure may

Department of Family Social Science, University of

Minnesota, 290 McNeal Hall, St. Paul, MN 55108

(bdoherty@umn.edu).

∗Department of Family Science, Brigham YoungUniversity,

2081 JFSB, Provo, UT 84602.

∗∗Department of Family Social Science, University of Min-

nesota, 290 McNeal Hall, St. Paul, MN 55108.

Key Words: college enrollment, family structure, father

absence, fathers, gender,nonmarital birth rate.

have contributed to the widening gender gap in

higher education.

Researchers are trying to understand the increas-

ing gender gap in higher education enrollment

in the United States. According to the National

Center for Education Statistics (NCES), males

constituted just 43% of the postsecondary

enrollment (Aud et al., 2013) and 43% of stu-

dents graduating with 4-year degrees (National

Center for Health Statistics, 2013). This trend

is expected to continue in the near future,

with college enrollment expected to grow 16%

for women and only 8% for men from 2009

to 2020 (Hussar & Bailey, 2011). According

to media reports, some colleges are making

special efforts to recruit and retain male stu-

dents (Lewin, 2006; Marklein, 2005). Although

researchers have been exploring a wide range of

social and economic factors that may contribute

to the gender gap in higher education, thus

far relatively few have examined how family

structure may contribute.

The current investigation was stimulated by

the observation that the college enrollment gen-

der gap in the United States began to emerge

about 18 years after the beginning of major pop-

ulation shifts in family structure. In this article,

we offer evidence that the increase in nonmarital

birth rates and subsequent father absence may be

a contributor to the growing gender gap in higher

Family Relations 65 (April 2016): 263–274 263

DOI:10.1111/fare.12157