The Future Is Female! Now What?

As echo chambers and identity politics continue to fracture society, another division among social groups will only widen the cracks in our weakened cultural foundations. Statistical research by political scientists points to a strong correlation among political identity, educational achievement and gender identity. If one gender group consistently outnumbers the other in higher education, the polarization of American society will worsen.

Many Americans view higher education and partisanship as linked, with data reflecting liberal leanings among faculty and students. Gender also has a partisan split, with men tending to adopt more conservative positions than women. If women enter the university at higher rates than men, men’s political ideology will separate even further from women’s.

Postsecondary education facilitates access to teachers and ideas that expand a student’s capacity to understand other perspectives. Students learn thoughtful debate, critical consumption of information and political awareness. This all helps sustain democracy. Our nation cannot afford for its universities to leave our men behind.

—Sarah Solomon, Georgetown University, public policy

Careers Still Lagging Behind

In the U.K, women have made up the majority of undergraduate students for more than a decade. One would expect this to translate to women accessing higher-paying careers in greater numbers, closing the gender-pay gap.

But that has not been the case. In fact, the gender pay gap has barely moved in the U.K., and women are often underrepresented in certain high-paying graduate careers such as finance, law and consulting.

The increasing number of female undergraduates can be a good thing, but if this doesn’t lead to a proportional increase in high-paying careers for women—in both the U.K. and U.S.—then something is wrong with the university system.

—Calum Paton, BPP University, law

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