To hear feminists talk, there has been no progress in women achieving parity with men in the workforce, education, etc.

My husband and I just returned from our daughter's graduation with her Masters of Science in Psychology at a small Lutheran College in California. I will address the basics of the so-called pay discrimination in another post. This post will cover the male/female percentages in her graduating class.

#Men...#Women...%Women...Degree

.....3...........2............40%.....Doctor of Ed. in Educational Leadership
...64..........62............50%.....MBA
.....1...........9............90%.....Master of Arts in Education
.....8..........36...........81%.....Master of Education in Teaching
...10..........35...........77%.....Master of Science in Education
.....6...........0.............0%.....Master of Science in Computer Science
.....6..........14...........70%.....Master of Public Policy and Administration
.....6..........39...........85%.....Master of Sci. in Psychology/Counseling

.104...........197..........65%.....Total Advanced Degrees

I am (obviously!) in favor of women getting an education and having access to jobs. But a review of these programs shows women avoiding the Masters in Computer Science program -- the one "on the surface" that is the most rigorous and intellectually demanding.

What is also bothersome is the dominance of women in education and counseling. In my first career, I taught elementary school, the area of education with the largest preponderance of women, for nine years. After all these years, I still think having women in the majority among elementary teachers is OK. However, the overwhelming number of women in all of the educational masters' programs, degrees leading to administrative positions, is not healthy for our nation.

In addition the lack of men in counseling is worrisome - men and women are different; boys and girls are different. I have to believe having male counselors available for boys who need them, particularly those lacking a father in the home, would be better than an overwhelmingly one-sided domination of female counselors.

Update: This post has been mildly revised and edited to better display the data.

Labels: higher education