“As our enemies have found, we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also.” Thomas Jefferson
American Colleges and Universities are reeling from a massive decline in the number of enrollments in higher education. In just the past five years, that number has decreased by around 1.5 million. Post-COVID, this crisis has also been acerbated by skyrocketing numbers dropping out. Though women are a part of this number, men make of the bulk of the dropouts with a full 71% of the decline. For decades, men have been the distinct minority of students in higher education, and this gender imbalance continues to get worse each year. Despite the crisis of imbalance, woke progressive rhetoric of males as oppressors (who must be marginalized) and females as oppressed, continues unabated. The marginalization of men and manhood in higher ed must be turned around before we all suffer the consequences. Let me explain.
First, a bit of history is in order. Title IX, which was intended to help further women in higher education, was passed exactly half a century ago, at a time when men earned 12% more undergraduate degrees than women. Only ten years later, 1982, that gap was gone. Ironically, right after women’s numbers reached parity with men, women became an increasing majority and a “reverse” female-majority gap developed in the mid-1980s. It has grown every year since. Amazingly, the lead of women went well beyond the 12% male majority of 1972 to an around a 20% female majority in only a couple of decades. This dynamic was seen in throughout the world in higher education. Senior analyst Stephen Vincent-Lancrin claimed it was “astonishing… people can’t believe it.” The author of “The End of Men” declared it “the strangest and most profound change of the century.”
Beyond the cratering number of males enrolling in higher education, young men are much more likely than women to drop out before receiving the diploma. Specifically, men were 71% of the decline in enrollment over the last five years, and an astounding 78% of those dropping out due to COVID-19. To show the extent of how this problem is increasing: In 2012 65% of women completed their undergraduate degrees, and men were at 59% completion according to the Department of Education. The data shows that higher education in American has become majoritarian “female” to a level nowhere near the “male” majority at the time of passing Title IX in 1972. At this rate we should expect to see two females to every one male in college in the very near future.
Since at least the time of Title IX, American influencers like the media have made strenuous efforts to promote women in higher education while neglecting men. The pervasive message has been one of women going to college and to further post-graduate education (note: Women are a majority in all levels of higher education, including now law and medicine). In attempting to give women more options, there are dozens of all-female colleges, and yet only three all-male colleges. Going back to 1960, there were over 200 all-female colleges, but at that time there were many all-male schools which have almost all been forced to gender integrate. Women have more options, clubs, encouragement, etc. while men have virtually nothing in comparison.
Beyond the pervasive encouragement of females over males in higher education, I believe another dynamic is increasingly playing out. Wokeness, of which data suggests is affecting military recruitment of males, particularly from conservative families. As Dr. Richard Vetters, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics, wrote in Forbes: “Young men increasingly feel colleges don’t want them. Professors and student activists rant about ‘white male privilege.’ Colleges are trying to literally throw prominent dead white male alumni off campus, taking their names off buildings or even removing statutes……. The diversity and inclusion bureaucracy on campuses… go out of their way to promote women as well. Men may be increasingly viewed by incoming college administrators as necessary evils, cash cows to help pay the bills. As a consequence, some young guys are perhaps saying “the hell with it, I will get a good job in construction” For at least the past decade, and getting much worse after the protests/riots of 2020, males have been demeaned and marginalized as part of a “privileged” patriarchy. Women, despite being the vast majority of students on campus, are told they are oppressed. Males are encouraged to downplay masculinity, which could lead to a career ending allegation of some kind of sexual harassment. Like Vetters said, many males are just leaving for somewhere they feel appreciated.
The consequences of marginalizing our young men and smothering manhood are being felt beyond the lack of males to females as potential dates. Each sex has been gifted by God with unique traits that have been proven necessary for societies to continue and flourish. Manhood includes unique strength, toughness, and courage, in addition to a unique proclivity toward science, technology, engineering, and math. It’s time to stop marginalizing males, and get back to allowing manly virtues a place to flourish at our Colleges and Universities.
Bill Connor, is an Orangeburg, S.C. attorney, Army Infantry Colonel and author of the book “Articles from War.”
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