Gender Gap Persists in Black Higher Education

Graduates of Spelman college at Commencement 2002. Today Black women make up roughly two thirds of all African American college graduates.

As the 2007 – 2008 school year comes to a close, there is much positive news to report on the state of Black progress in U.S. colleges and universities. Still, though, some of the old problems remain entrenched. One such issue is the gender gap between Black men and women in higher education. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (JBHE) reported in their most recent bulletin (6/12/08) that even as the nation is experiencing unpredecented growth in the sheer numbers of Black college graduates, the growing gender gap in degree attainment between men and women of African descent continues cast an ominous shadow over our communities. The JBHE describes this growing gulf between Black men’s and women’s achievement on college campuses:

New data from the U.S. Department of Education shows a persisting gender gap in African-American bachelor’s degree attainments.

In the 2005-06 academic year, black women earned 94,341 bachelor’s degrees, almost double the number earned by black men. Black women now earn two thirds of all bachelor’s degrees obtained by African Americans. 

Do not be mistaken, black men, too, have made progress. Over the past decade, the number of bachelor’s degrees earned by black men is up more than 40 percent. But the result pales in comparison to the huge gains posted by black women.

Posted by Ajuan Mance