Male and Female Pathways Through Four-Year Colleges

Pathways through college vary by sex in ways that may contribute to the contemporary male-female gap in college graduation that favors women. Although past research has documented sex differences in college pathways, little research has investigated the underlying causes of this variation. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, this study empirically tests leading hypotheses for why men are more likely than women to progress through college discontinuously and part-time. This study finds that high school academic performance, which indicates preparation for college, accounts for part of the male-female gap in college pathways. Poorer academic performance at the beginning of college further increases the likelihood that men, relative to women, will disrupt their college experience.