A generation of men are giving up on college - WHY?

[Raze]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/college-university-fall-higher-education-men-women-enrollment-admissions-back-to-school-11630948233

https://archive.ph/VehJl

 

Quote

Men are abandoning higher education in such numbers that they now trail female college students by record levels.

At the close of the 2020-21 academic year, women made up 59.5% of college students, an all-time high, and men 40.5%, according to enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit research group. U.S. colleges and universities had 1.5 million fewer students compared with five years ago, and men accounted for 71% of the decline.

Also worth noting, men are much more likely to drop out before finishing than women.

This is a problem because it is bad for the economy and men without college degrees tend to make less money, and be more likely to behave inappropriately. The amount of working age men out of work and not looking for work has increased substantially, and societies with large amounts of unmarried males without work can be less stable.

In addition, unlike men, most women tend to want a partner who is as or more educated/makes as much or more than them. If there is a large portion of women with college degrees who are high earners, but a smaller portion of men in such a position, many women will not find a husband who meets their standards.

Morgan Stanely forcasts 45 percent of working women between ages of 25 and 44 will be single and childless. This is a problem because married couples have many benefits for society.

What do you think are the possible explanations of this? Most are saying it is because of debt and economic reasons, however that affects women just as much, so it makes no sense.

I think an underdiscussed part of this is how success of males have been declining in K-12 education 

TITLE:  Do Schools Discriminate Against Boys?

There also seems to be limited interest in changing this. https://sanzi.substack.com/p/white-houses-new-gender-policy-council

Edited September 19, 2021 by Raze

[Roy]

It's simply because most colleges and universities are bullshit, and complete debt traps. Unless you go to learn and train for something specific and in demand in the economy, you are better off to simply start working to save money and use that time to get experience and things to put on your resume.

As for the "women won't find suitable partners" issue well, to put it bluntly they'll just have to get over it and lower their standards and the dynamic and balance will have to change so we live in a more equalized society. You can't have your cake and eat it too, so to speak.

I know plenty of couples in LTRs where the women makes more than the man, and I've been in quite a few myself now where my partner makes more than me. It's not a big deal at all, it just seems unusual still because it's a relatively new thing after THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF PATRIARCHY LOL.

[Preety_India]

This patriarchal notion that women won't find a partner if they get a good education or make more money. 

I'm so sick of it. 

 

I remember the men in my neighborhood and community constantly telling me that I won't find a husband if I got more education. 

It was tiring. 

 

 

[whatishappeningtome]

Quote

Roy

It's simply because most colleges and universities are bullshit, and complete debt traps. Unless you go to learn and train for something specific and in demand in the economy, you are better off to simply start working to save money and use that time to get experience and things to put on your resume.

As for the "women won't find suitable partners" issue well, to put it bluntly they'll just have to get over it and lower their standards and the dynamic and balance will have to change so we live in a more equalized society. You can't have your cake and eat it too, so to speak.

I know plenty of couples in LTRs where the women makes more than the man, and I've been in quite a few myself now where my partner makes more than me. It's not a big deal at all, it just seems unusual still because it's a relatively new thing after THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF PATRIARCHY LOL.

 

I can't answer this question in particular but as a man who went back to college to finish my Bachelor's degree I never completed with online classes during Covid, In my experience college classes can be really good and it can be amazing to learn from very intelligent professors. 

I'm interested in sociology for example because of Actualized.org and I'm taking a sociology class this semester and i'm forced to read academic papers and learn about the subject way more deeply than I would just watching Youtube videos or even reading a book off amazon.

I do agree that college is overpriced (but if you solved that issue like they have in Scandinavia) I seriously wouldn't agree society would be better off without people going to college. Sure it has dogma etc but there's a reason why it is capitalist Stage Orange business owners who say "DON'T GO TO COLLEGE" to motivational music on Youtube. You don't need a college degree to earn good money in 2021. But college is not necessarily all about being prepared for the job market as it is, to spend a few years studying and writing about subjects deeply. 

This is just an antidote but, even if it's not a complete education, most men I know who have a college degree (especially from good schools) are more intelligent than people who just finished high school and started working. A lot of my male high school friends work blue collar jobs while listening to Joe Rogan and then spout right-wing and anti-vax non-sense. My college educated friends do-not. 

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by whatishappeningtome
Added quote

[Raze]

42 minutes ago, Roy said:

It's simply because most colleges and universities are bullshit, and complete debt traps. Unless you go to learn and train for something specific and in demand in the economy, you are better off to simply start working to save money and use that time to get experience and things to put on your resume.

So why is it mostly affecting males? Women go into debt as well.

38 minutes ago, Preety_India said:

This patriarchal notion that women won't find a partner if they get a good education or make more money. 

I'm so sick of it. 

I remember the men in my neighborhood and community constantly telling me that I won't find a husband if I got more education. 

It was tiring. 

https://ifstudies.org/blog/better-educated-women-still-prefer-higher-earning-husbands

[Preety_India]

@Raze so what? 

A woman preferring a better man is the most ancient way things have operated. It's almost biological instinct to look for a better mate for children. 

That shouldn't stop a woman from developing herself. 

It's stupid to even tell women that they are going to be facing problems. 

 

[Raze]

1 hour ago, Preety_India said:

@Raze so what? 

A woman preferring a better man is the most ancient way things have operated. It's almost biological instinct to look for a better mate for children. 

That shouldn't stop a woman from developing herself. 

It's stupid to even tell women that they are going to be facing problems. 

I'm not telling women they are going to be facing problems or saying women shouldn't develop themselves. I'm saying society needs to be structured in a way so men and women develop themselves and things do not get uneven and cause unnecessary friction.

[Preety_India]

16 minutes ago, Raze said:

I'm not telling women they are going to be facing problems or saying women shouldn't develop themselves. I'm saying society needs to be structured in a way so men and women develop themselves and things do not get uneven and cause unnecessary friction.

Ok got you.

[Random witch]

Perhaps the reasons are:

1. Women feel like they still need "to prove" themselves so they work hard/study hard.
2. Women socialization is different than men in that way that women socialize to be comfortable and please their parents and be a "good girls", follow the rules, do the things that are expected from them like going to college without questioning this too much. 
3. Other assumption is that women realized that they need to be independent from men financially because they saw how unhappy, dependent and uneducated women in their family or environment were like, and the most approachable way, the best way, the safest way to do this is through college and degrees. 
4. Also maybe there's the factor of self actualization, women are genetically "hungry" for this after so many years of patriarchy and repression. men don't have the same hunger, after so many years of control they unconsciously want to be more passive and controlled.
5. Men raised to be strong and capable but also to abandon their feelings and emotions, this repression of feelings and emotions caused to some of them to suffer from mental issues that they even may not be aware to because of the lack of the education about it. They dragging their repressed emotions since they were children and it's a real burden that prevent them from functioning in society in a healthy way. They deal with their issues by escapism to video games, porn, toxic theories. drugs because this is the most approachable way in society that men can deal with emotions. Engaging in video games, toxic theories, porn and drugs is also a distraction from studying and building a career/life purpose.

[Preety_India]

9 minutes ago, Khr said:

Would you consider marrying a guy who was not educated and made very little money? 

9 minutes ago, Khr said:

Would you consider marrying a guy who was not educated and made very little money? 

I have already dated such guys. Some guys were insecure that I made more than them. Insecurity kills a relationship. But not every man was that way 

Some did not feel any insecurity. 

I would completely okay to marry. I only look for a deep emotional connection and I don't need anything. 

 

[Terell Kirby]

To me, this really isn't a surprising thing. People are now starting to see college is mandatory for career success.

Men may be pursuing more trades or starting businesses. Women have just now begun to equal the playing field in education and the corporate workplace. This is a phase that has gained momentum.

It simply comes down to career interest (if not just being lazy). After a while, college attendance will probably continue to drop for everyone, especially if student debt is an issue.