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Women Dominate Berks Collegiate Ranks: Statistics of Most Local Colleges Reflect a National Trend in Which Female Graduates Outnumber Male Graduates About 60 Percent to 40 Percent.

Posted on: Sunday, 7 May 2006, 12:05 CDT

By Mike Trask, Reading Eagle, Pa.

May 7--Sixty-two percent of the graduates of the five Berks County colleges since 2001 have something in common: a pair of X chromosomes.

The other 38 percent also have something in common: a Y chromosome.

Yes, many more females graduate from area colleges, and the trend is nothing new.

And it certainly doesn't make Berks any different from anyplace else in the country.

Nationally, women account for about 60 percent of college graduates at every level. But, there are far more males ages 18 to 24 in the country -- 15 million to 14.2 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Experts have various opinions as to why females flock to college campuses after high school and tend to graduate at higher rates than their male peers.

"There's been a cultural change," said Sister Margaret A. Dougherty, interim vice president for academic and student life at Alvernia College. "The expectation is now that women are supposed to support themselves and go to college."

Alvernia is a former women's college that has been admitting men since 1971.

Since 2001, 69 percent of Alvernia's graduates have been female.

The college declined to provide exact freshman admissions numbers. However, Dougherty said that last year 59 percent of incoming freshmen were female.

Some observers say young men can find jobs straight out of high school that pay better than jobs young women tend to get without a college education.

And some claim boys become frustrated with school faster than girls and therefore do not seek education following high school.

Gregory E. Eichhorn, Albright College vice president for enrollment management and dean of admissions, said the college simply offers more majors that appeal to women.

Over the past five years, 59 percent of Albright's 1,329 graduates have been female.

He noted traditional liberal arts and elementary education classes are commonly filled with young women.

"If we had a nursing program I would have a bigger problem," Eichhorn said.

The gender gap is not confined to private colleges.

At Kutztown University, 63 percent of the graduates since 2001 have been female.

Reading Area Community College has had the highest percentage of female graduates in the county since 2001, at 70 percent.

Diane M. Marabella, dean of student services, said she believes females choose RACC for the same reason males do.

"The community college is far less expensive, so right there you have created far greater access for many people," Marabella said.

Indeed, RACC has open admissions, and the average age of students is 28.

Marabella said the college markets to both genders. But she said RACC's evening and weekend classes make it attractive for women with children.

Officials at all five Berks colleges said admissions standards are the same for both genders, and there has been no additional effort to recruit men.

But one school is trying to attract more women -- Penn State Berks in Spring Township. That campus is an exception to the enrollment trend -- 59 percent of graduates since 2001 have been male.

"For undergraduate education at Penn State Berks we have more male students," said Blaine E. Steensland, senior director of student affairs and enrollment management. "We're bucking a national trend and a local trend."

Steensland said the college's science, computer and engineering programs attract far more male students than female.

"Penn State tends to have majors that have historically carried more males than females," Steensland said.

Penn State is trying to draw more female students into science and math fields.

A program called W.I.S.E (Women in Science and Engineering) has been created to reach out to high school girls deciding on a career path.

Other colleges said adding programs can help increase male admissions numbers.

Albright has added digital media and computer programs, typically taken by more men, helping boost the number of male students on campus, Eichhorn said.

Dougherty said the recent addition of criminal justice, forensic science and sports management programs has had a similar effect at Alvernia.

College officials said they expect about 60 percent of college graduates to be female.

Marabella said she's happy to see more females in college than when she began working at RACC 25 years ago.

"They always wanted to go to college, but life happened and for whatever reason they couldn't," Marabella said about many of the women studying at RACC. "All of us want to be successful."

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Copyright (c) 2006, Reading Eagle, Pa.

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Source: Reading Eagle

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