New Data Explores Gender Divide in Canada’s Postsecondary Schools

Women tend to make the decision to attend postsecondary education earlier than men.

Is there really a difference between male and female students? Quite a few, actually.

A new report by The Mesa Project points to a number of statistical differences between men and women in terms of their preparations for, attitudes towards, and experiences in postsecondary education.

The report is titled “Gender and Post-Secondary Education” and draws on data from the Longitudinal Survey of Low-Income Students (L-SLIS) which followed over 10,000 student aid recipients for a period of three years.

Their data shows that women tend to make the decision to attend postsecondary education earlier than men, but men are more likely to have savings to go to school. As a result, females are much more likely to have concerns regarding their student debt.

The survey also showed that college men are more likely than females to drop out in their first or second year, whereas males and females drop out of university at the same rate.

Women were found to enter college or university with slightly lower math grades, but somewhat higher language grades and a higher overall grade average. In terms of what each sex tends to study, men were found more in architecture, whereas women were much more likely than males to be in arts programs.

The MESA Project also released research briefs on the issues of Aboriginal students and the differences between urban and rural students.