Historically women were not properly represented when it came to education. Though they have always been considered the primary school educators, they were rarely considered to be the educated. In 2009 there were approximately 3.2 million school teachers in the United States, 84% of them being women and 16% of them being men. If you think back to your primary school years, you are more than likely to recall majority of the teachers being women, which statistically is correct. In 2013 there were only about 18% male educators in primary schools while women dominated with a whooping 82%. As the grade levels increase however, so does the number of male educators. In high school you may be able to recall there being more male teachers than in elementary or middle school, nonetheless there were still more women than men. In 2009 the percentage of male educators for high school raises to 33.9% and the percentage for women lowers to 66.1%. It is not until secondary education when we see a drastic change in the number of women and men educators. When we look at the percentage of male professors they dominate by holding 56% of college educator positions, which leaves 44% of female college professors. The percentage of male and female professors at a university will are not set at 56% and 44%, the percentages will vary depending on the university. Usually the rule of thumb is the more prestigious the university, the fewer amount of female professors there will be.
Although the number of females in the university as professors is significantly lower than males, women dominate in the universities as students and graduates. It was not until the 1970’s when we saw a significant increase in women attending a college/university to obtain a degree; and now, today women are going to college more than ever. In grand total, 70% of women had either attended some college or completed their bachelor’s degree versus only 61% of men. Not only are women more likely to attend college, they are more likely to complete college and earn a degree. Within the 70% of women who have at least started college, 46% of them complete their degree while out of the 61% of males, only 39% of them complete their degree.
While more women are attending college and obtaining degrees at a higher rate than they have ever before, women are choosing majors that fit the stereotypical gender roles. Majority of women tend to major in professions such as psychology, sociology, nursing, dental assisting, teaching, etc. With that being said women are being underrepresented in areas such as mathematics, physical science and engineering. As the graph beside the text shows, in 2005-2006 only about 11,000 women studied and obtained a degree in engineering while approximately 30,000 studied social sciences. Again, if we take a look at the graph we also see that women dominate in the other health/education with approximately over 100,000 women receiving degrees in this study while women call extremely short of that in MD's in Law with approximately 3,000 women receiving their degrees in this study.
Although the number of females in the university as professors is significantly lower than males, women dominate in the universities as students and graduates. It was not until the 1970’s when we saw a significant increase in women attending a college/university to obtain a degree; and now, today women are going to college more than ever. In grand total, 70% of women had either attended some college or completed their bachelor’s degree versus only 61% of men. Not only are women more likely to attend college, they are more likely to complete college and earn a degree. Within the 70% of women who have at least started college, 46% of them complete their degree while out of the 61% of males, only 39% of them complete their degree.
While more women are attending college and obtaining degrees at a higher rate than they have ever before, women are choosing majors that fit the stereotypical gender roles. Majority of women tend to major in professions such as psychology, sociology, nursing, dental assisting, teaching, etc. With that being said women are being underrepresented in areas such as mathematics, physical science and engineering. As the graph beside the text shows, in 2005-2006 only about 11,000 women studied and obtained a degree in engineering while approximately 30,000 studied social sciences. Again, if we take a look at the graph we also see that women dominate in the other health/education with approximately over 100,000 women receiving degrees in this study while women call extremely short of that in MD's in Law with approximately 3,000 women receiving their degrees in this study.