Gender-specific trends in the value of education and the emerging gender gap in college completion
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Level 3 by design analogy (repeated cross-sectional time-series demographic analysis; non-clinical).
OpenAlex W2136083845 · doi:10.1353/dem.2006.0003
What was done
Analyzed March Current Population Survey (CPS) data from 1964 through 2002 to evaluate trends in college completion rates among white women compared to white men. The authors evaluated whether these completion trends corresponded to shifts in the value of higher education, measuring individual earnings returns, marriage and marital stability rates, family standard of living, and protection against poverty.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values or point estimates. White women overtook white men in college completion rates between 1964 and 2002. While direct earnings returns to college were consistently higher for women than men across the entire timeframe, changes in earnings returns did not explain the divergence in completion rates. However, when evaluating broader measures of material well-being and family living standards, women's returns to higher education grew faster than men's.
Why it matters
Shows that broader family-level standard-of-living gains and poverty protection provide a stronger demographic explanation for women's rising college completion than individual wage returns alone.
Limits
The abstract provides no sample size, confidence intervals, or numerical effect sizes. Findings are limited to white men and women and do not capture trends among other racial or ethnic groups. The repeated cross-sectional observational design cannot establish direct causal relationships at the individual level, and non-material or institutional drivers of college enrollment were not assessed.
Cited by
- supports Men make up approximately 41% of college graduates.