Gender and Race Differences in American College Enrollment: Evidence from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002

Gokhan Savas^1,

¹Social Sciences University of Ankara, Turkey

Cite this paper:
Gokhan Savas. Gender and Race Differences in American College Enrollment: Evidence from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. American Journal of Educational Research. 2016; 4(1):64-75. doi: 10.12691/education-4-1-11

Abstract

This article examines college enrollment of male and female students from different racial-ethnic groups. Utilizing nationally representative data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), the present study investigates the following research question: Among those who have completed high school or received a General Educational Development certificate (GED), to what extent are gender and racial/ethnic differences in enrollment explained by students’ pre-college academic achievement, educational and parental expectations net of socio-economic background, family structure and high school characteristics? The study finds that females have a great advantage over males in overall college enrollment, and the female advantage also exists within each racial/ethnic group. For racial/ethnic differences in college enrollment, the study finds that black and Hispanic students are less likely to go to any college compared to their white peers. However, when black, Hispanic, and white students have completed high school and have similar socioeconomic background and precollege achievement, black and Hispanic students are more likely than are white students to go to any colleges.

Keywords:
gender race college enrollment the female postsecondary advantage the net black/Hispanic advantage

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