We at Paige-Harrison.com find It very alarming that men are slipping so far behind in college enrollment.  Tom Mortenson, a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, said he is concerned that men are falling so far behind Women in college. 

As part of this research - titled 'What's Wrong with the Guy's?' Mortenson found that from 1975 to 2001, the number of bachelor's degrees received by men increased by only 5%, and by women the increase was 70%. 

This decline has great implications for society, from affecting the work force to creating a shortage of eligible men whom college-educated Women would consider suitable for dating or marrying.  The solution is not easy, it is about inspiring males and trying to motivate them in the classroom before they get to college. 

In most college classrooms throughout America there is a noticeable lack of men.  Even the coed dorms are void of males.  The widening gender imbalance continues to grow as Women are outpacing men in the pursuit of a higher education.  Teenage Girls typically have better high school grades than their male counterparts and many institutions of higher education are rapidly becoming Female bastions.  Is the answer to admit less qualified boys to balance the enrollment?  It was not always this way. 

In 1951, 66% of the nation's college students were men.  Now a half-century later, Women make up 56% of the country's total college enrollment.  What does it mean?  College admissions officers are nervously watching the trend.  There is a danger if schools start to tip to over 60% Female enrollment as many students (both men and Women) want diversity.  Should colleges start to give males special consideration if their academic performance in high school is not up to par? 

Get Ready For a Change

Women are rapidly advancing over men in what were once the hopelessly patriarchal fields of law and medicine.  However, the reality is that modern universities and corporations are both sexist and sanctimoniously politically correct.  The thinking seems to be, if we continue to deny the problem, maybe it will go away.  Or maybe what is happening will be such a surprise when it overtakes everyone that the likes of those at Harvard University will say that they did not see it coming.  Well what is coming is real and the Female-male gap in education is reality.  This is despite what Harvard University President Lawrence Summers said when he made his ungraceful speculation that "innate" differences between the sexes might account for the shortage of Women in the upper ranks of of Women in the upper ranks of math and science.  The Harvard President has caused an international uproar over his remarks because of his apparent belief that Women have not advanced in the sciences and math because of inborn sex differences.  He has since apologized for his remarks.  Maybe I will never meet a Female Einstein, however I predict that this gap will close now that the elephant in the room has been noticed  by Harvard University. 

To put Summers hypothesis in perspective there is a wealth of research that reflects that cultural differences impact ability or interest in math or science more so than biological differences between the sexes.   After all the evidence concerning Women's severe underrepresentation in the sciences and underperformance on certain standardized tests, the same is also true for various minoriteis.  President Summers reasoning is not only repugnant, it is also sloppy thinking and bad science by ignoring the research that clearly demonstrates the overwhelming impact of social and cultural differences on the performance, evaluation, aspirations of boys and Girls of all races. 

Standardized testing indicates that Japenese girls far outperform American boys based on the tests.  Does race trump gender?  The performance of Girls and boys depends strongly on the expectations of teachers, their community and the students themselves.  Zecha Hadid, an award winning architecht recently voiced her opinion, "whether the male and Female brains operate differently, I'm sure they do, but I couldn't say how.  It depends on the degree of confidence your school or your parents give you, and whether you're male or Femalehas a temendous impact on that."  Unfortunately, Summers comments if left unchecked will serve to reinforce what too many people believe, deep inside to be true - that men are innately better at math and science than Women.  

Men Must Learn to Accept That They Will Work for Women and Have Female Bosses

About 5 years ago, things in the workplace started to change.   At companies big and small, there is a shakeup, and the culture is different.  Men are increasingly being told to move down the ladder and make room for Female bosses.  A recent client of mine told me, he felt, "a strange feeling of being marginalized," when a Woman was promoted to a management position over him.  This trend began in the early 1990's and the pace has accelerated in recent years.  This trend has been facing many for a long time, but many refuse to admit to what has been happening.  To the former He-Men and Masters of the Universe, being demoted and downgraded after decades of upward mobility can be a bitter pill to swallow.  However, it is reality.

The message is clear, men had better learn to adapt.  Navigating this ambiguous and unfamiliar terrain can be tricky.  Last summer, I met with a male executive who shared with me that he was devastated when he was demoted and his job was given to a younger Female.  He did retain his $125,000 salary until the end of January.  At his outplacement session it finally hit him.  It was time to move on and he needed to accept that things had changed.  For another of my male clients in banking who had survived a dizzying sequence of restructurings and mergers, he got the pink slip in early 2005.  His boss, a much younger Female delivered the news in a telephone call from Los Angeles.   He told me that she had told him that he did not understand his role, to collaborate, and that he needed to pick up and move on. 

We are at a point today where it's no big deal to have a female boss.  With a more progressive approach to diversity and a greater number of women helming organizations, Women are beginning to feel comfortable enough to use their natural management style, which tends to be more communicative, relationship-oriented and team building in nature.  Women have greater verbal aptitude and verbal comprehension than men, and are more emotionally and spiritually intelligent.  This gives them the potential to be more understanding bosses than men.

A Female boss is a different breed of leader than her male counterpart.  When the person calling the shots is a Woman, men often feel intimidated by Female coworkers or bosses because they don't speak the same language, and men are worried that they might say the wrong thing-or the right thing in the wrong way.  We are soon coming to a point when more and more Women will be in roles as the Dominant gender as the world is evolving towards a Female Dominated society.