The demography of African American males in higher education

Abstract

In 1980, there were 1,106.8 million African Americans enrolled in college. Of this number, 463,700 were males and 643,100 were females. In other words, among African Americans enrolled in higher education, 58.1% were female. By the year 2004, of the 2,164.7 million African Americans enrolled in higher education, 65% were female. Thus, between 1980 and 2004, the gender gap in higher education within the African American community increased by nearly 7 percentage points. What happened to African American males? Why are they not enrolling in higher education at higher rates? The gender gap in higher education is not limited to African Americans. The same trend can also be found among Whites and Hispanics. Table 1 shows these ‘‘gaps.’’ Several important patterns emerge from Table 1. First, it is clear that, generally speaking, females are increasingly more likely to enroll in college than males. Indeed, the gender gap ratios (GGRs), for all ethnic-racial groups, increase over time. Second, note that there are important race differentials in the GGRs. The GGRs are greatest among African Americans