The Female-Male Higher Education "Degree Gap"

I posted before about the growing "degree gap" between females and males in U.S. higher education, showing charts for bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and doctoral degrees, using Department of Education data (actual data through 2005-2006 and projected data through 2016-2017). The Department of Education also tracks associate's degrees at community colleges, and "first-professional degrees" (M.D., D.D.S. and law degrees), and those female and male percentages of total degrees are displayed above.

As the top chart shows, the female-male "degree gap" for associate's degrees started in 1977, and is projected to be 64.17% female vs. 35.83% male by 2016. That would mean that in 2016, more than 179 women will receive associate's degrees for every 100 men.

The bottom charts shows the female-male "degree gap" for professional degrees started in 2006 when women earned more of those degrees (50.48%) for the first time. By 2016, women are projected to receive 53.44% of professional degrees, or almost 115 degrees for women for every 100 degrees for men.

Here's a timeline summary:

1977: First year women earned more associate's degrees than men. By 2016, women will receive 179 associate's degrees for every 100 men.

1981: First year women earned more bachelor's degrees than men. By 2016, 150 women will receive bachelor's degrees for every 100 men.

1985: First year women earned more master's degrees than men. By 2016, women will receive 170 master's degrees for every 100 men.

2006: First year women earned more doctoral degrees and more professional degrees. By 2016, women will receive almost 125 doctoral degrees, and almost 120 professional degrees for every 100 men.