I'm raising a son and a daughter. Which one of them is more likely to have to support a family? The daughter. That's one huge change from thirty years ago. The guy can always skip out. The woman almost never. At any rate, it was my experience.
My experience is hardly unique. It's what a lot of kids are watching as they grow up. In addition, even if women don't have to support their families, they have to support themselves until they marry, and most likely, they have to bring in a paycheck after marriage. It all means work, which means getting a good education.
In other words, the general impoverishment of 95% of the population in the last generation means that women have to work, and they realize that without a degree, they're going to be paid peanuts. So they get degrees.
Moreover it takes men longer to mature than it does women -- so it all adds up to perceived results.
Joanna
/ dave / wrote:
> Women earn more U degrees than men
> Mary Jane Smetanka, Star Tribune
> January 17, 2005