By Jasmine Browley· Updated January 18, 2023 New data is pointing out stark gender disparities in fall 2022 college freshmen enrollment.
A report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows that across all four-year universities and community colleges, male freshmen enrollment dropped by 1.3 percent in comparison to female freshmen enrollment which saw a 3.2 percent decrease.
“The pandemic disproportionately harmed women, particularly women of color and low-income women, and this is one more example of that impact,” said Catherine Brown, senior director of policy and advocacy for the National College Attainment Network as reported by The 74.
Brown continued: “stepped up to homeschool, to take care of children, to take care of parents and to take care of people with health problems” during the pandemic.
The most notable drops among college freshmen in fall 2022 were white, Asian and Black students who declined by 7, 3.2, and 2 percentage points respectively as The 74 points out.
The decline in enrollment could be linked to the burden of caretaking trickling down to young girls more than their male counterparts. Stephen Barker, director of communications at OneGoal said young women often find themselves “disproportionately caring for siblings at home while their parents were working,” as reported by The 74. “There were a lot of barriers for girls to get through the school work and graduate from high school. It’s something unique to a lot of girls who would have otherwise been college bound.”
Barker continued: “As the economy recovers and we’re past this need for something immediate for girls to support their family and themselves, then I think we’ll see them pivoting and returning back to school.”
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