A Generation of American Men Give Up on College

Yappi

Yappi

Go Buckeyes
Men are abandoning higher education in such numbers that they now trail female college students by record levels.

At the close of the 2020-21 academic year, women made up 59.5% of college students, an all-time high, and men 40.5%, according to enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit research group. U.S. colleges and universities had 1.5 million fewer students compared with five years ago, and men accounted for 71% of the decline.
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www.wsj.com

A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost’

The number of men enrolled at two- and four-year colleges has fallen behind women by record levels, in a widening education gap across the U.S.
www.wsj.com www.wsj.com
 
 
I have noticed many of my friends (St X parents) pushing this narrative...posting Mike Rowe. However, they are sending their kids to college. This track is for those other kids.

BTW- IMO trade skills require education and pay very well. (plumbing, electricians etc.) Bank!
 
Since we seem to have a student loan "crisis", and 58% of people with student loans are female, you could live dangerously and make a case that men are simply demonstrating more financial wisdom by eschewing the need to put themselves deep into debt, whereas women - well, you know ..... :cool:

A liberal FB friend of mine posted this link today about solutions for the "crisis". One idea seemed ridiculously simple, and this thread may be an example of it being put into action - having enough students simply postpone college for a year or a few years, so that colleges will be faced with a noticeable loss of tuition income. I'm not sure how many people would need to do that in order to make an impact, though.

"One source for leading a reform movement that we have not seriously considered is the students themselves. Students hold the power to force change in our colleges and universities. In sufficient numbers, students could bring real pressure on the higher education establishment to cut costs, even by simply delaying enrollment for a year or two — a time when these students could work, save, travel, and volunteer. Deprived of student tuition and fee revenues, most institutions would have no choice but to eliminate costly redundant programs, cut administrative costs, and reduce spending across the board. Interestingly, there is some evidence that opting out is beginning to occur. A 2019 study shows that as many as one in five prospective college students are choosing a different path, one based on competency rather than a college degree."

https://hbr.org/amp/2019/09/what-wi...v-qMFn6VnomhpjTXQeUZBnjMrPfoAE2NTRsn99XvzWmZU
 
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Yappi said:
www.wsj.com

A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost’

The number of men enrolled at two- and four-year colleges has fallen behind women by record levels, in a widening education gap across the U.S.
www.wsj.com www.wsj.com
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More opportunities with the ladies for the rest am I right?

fascinating-so-whats-the-problem.jpg
 
Happier said:
I have noticed many of my friends (St X parents) pushing this narrative...posting Mike Rowe. However, they are sending their kids to college. This track is for those other kids.

BTW- IMO trade skills require education and pay very well. (plumbing, electricians etc.) Bank!
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There's a sect of our population that still turns up its nose towards the trade school table at the college fair, but those guys are gods when you, ahem, put too much spaghetti squash in your garbage disposal.

Flip side of that coin is the physical toll a lot of those jobs take on its workers. Is $100K worth it if your body is ravaged by age 50?
 
All part of a larger societal change. How many males lost out on good jobs because of a failure to pass a drug test ? Going into debt for a degree ? New tech jobs vs old line manufacturing/management jobs ? Reluctant to move to another part of the country where new job growth is high vs staying home in the Rust belt ? Being supplanted by women as the main bread winner with the higher paying job/career?

Society is in great flux and easily a generation lost. Or more.
 
oxat622 said:
There's a sect of our population that still turns up its nose towards the trade school table at the college fair, but those guys are gods when you, ahem, put too much spaghetti squash in your garbage disposal.

Flip side of that coin is the physical toll a lot of those jobs take on its workers. Is $100K worth it if your body is ravaged by age 50?
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Do you think physical work “ravages” your body by fifty? There is tremendous need in this country for all the trades and it’s so much cheaper than college. Pretty much guaranteed jobs that are paying historically well. Try to find a good plumber, carpenter or electrician today and you’ll know what I’m talking about
 
zeeman said:
Do you think physical work “ravages” your body by fifty? There is tremendous need in this country for all the trades and it’s so much cheaper than college. Pretty much guaranteed jobs that are paying historically well. Try to find a good plumber, carpenter or electrician today and you’ll know what I’m talking about
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Not in all cases, but many. Plumbers and electricians are on the safer side, but I once read a crazy estimation that masonry can involve 1,000 bending motions per day. There's got to be a high price point to make that work worthwhile if it very well comes with spine or joint complications at a not yet old age.
 
oxat622 said:
There's a sect of our population that still turns up its nose towards the trade school table at the college fair, but those guys are gods when you, ahem, put too much spaghetti squash in your garbage disposal.

Flip side of that coin is the physical toll a lot of those jobs take on its workers. Is $100K worth it if your body is ravaged by age 50?
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Hence policies like family leave, SS, Medicare and HCA help these workers.
 
Paladin said:
All part of a larger societal change. How many males lost out on good jobs because of a failure to pass a drug test ? Going into debt for a degree ? New tech jobs vs old line manufacturing/management jobs ? Reluctant to move to another part of the country where new job growth is high vs staying home in the Rust belt ? Being supplanted by women as the main bread winner with the higher paying job/career?

Society is in great flux and easily a generation lost. Or more.
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This is what fuels the anger
 
oxat622 said:
Not in all cases, but many. Plumbers and electricians are on the safer side, but I once read a crazy estimation that masonry can involve 1,000 bending motions per day. There's got to be a high price point to make that work worthwhile if it very well comes with spine or joint complications at a not yet old age.
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Or how about taking care of you body, eating right and having regular check ups? If your body breaks down, in most cases it’s because you’re letting it break down. It’s amazing how wussified this country is becoming
 
zeeman said:
Or how about taking care of you body, eating right and having regular check ups? If your body breaks down, in most cases it’s because you’re letting it break down. It’s amazing how wussified this country is becoming
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How do you know people in those jobs don't do those things? How do you know that doing those things overwhelmingly prevents health complications among those jobs? Not wanting to work a job that comes with health and safety hazzards doesn't make someone a wuss.
 
oxat622 said:
How do you know people in those jobs don't do those things? How do you know that doing those things overwhelmingly prevents health complications among those jobs? Not wanting to work a job that comes with health and safety hazzards doesn't make someone a wuss.
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What percentage smokes and drinks....my personal observation is much higher than the general population, but that could just be Ohio.
 
oxat622 said:
There's a sect of our population that still turns up its nose towards the trade school table at the college fair, but those guys are gods when you, ahem, put too much spaghetti squash in your garbage disposal.

Flip side of that coin is the physical toll a lot of those jobs take on its workers. Is $100K worth it if your body is ravaged by age 50?
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I know. Too many plumbers have been "ravaged" by garbage disposals.
 
My dad has been a master plumber his whole adult life and his body is a complete mess. It's probably 50% his job and 50% not taking care of himself. The job itself has taken it's toll, though - when I was a kid, he was buried alive under 6 feet of dirt while putting in a sewer line. He was fortunate to survive, but he shattered one of his legs in the process, the same leg was broken years later by a similar (yet not as life threatening) incident. He's thrown out his back multiple times as well, among other injuries.
 
oxat622 said:
Not in all cases, but many. Plumbers and electricians are on the safer side, but I once read a crazy estimation that masonry can involve 1,000 bending motions per day. There's got to be a high price point to make that work worthwhile if it very well comes with spine or joint complications at a not yet old age.
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This take on masonry is correct. Perhaps not for all, but my Dad was a brick mason and his body is a wreck these days. And of course in this profession, better get used to filing unemployment for those Winter months where you can't lay brick.
 
zeeman said:
Or how about taking care of you body, eating right and having regular check ups? If your body breaks down, in most cases it’s because you’re letting it break down. It’s amazing how wussified this country is becoming
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Try preaching this to the older generation of trade workers. Pretty sure my old man chain-smoked on the job. And then headed directly to the VFW for the Champaign of Beers every night to sign the books instead of taking his vitamins and saying his prayers before bed. :ROFLMAO:
 
thisisinsane said:
Things like this also play a part in the decline, what straight male, white, black, orange, purple, yellow, would want to be subjected to this nonsense?

www.foxnews.com

Ohio college student 'angry' and 'scared' after 'cisgender men' installed radiator in dorms: 'Safe space'

An Oberlin College student described being “scared” and “angry” after the school announced a work crew would be installing radiators in a “safe space” dormitory for women and trans students
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com
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Dumb and laughable, but if you were to poll, I don't think safe spaces would come up as a legitimate reason for decline.
 
Paladin said:
All part of a larger societal change. How many males lost out on good jobs because of a failure to pass a drug test ? Going into debt for a degree ? New tech jobs vs old line manufacturing/management jobs ? Reluctant to move to another part of the country where new job growth is high vs staying home in the Rust belt ? Being supplanted by women as the main bread winner with the higher paying job/career?

Society is in great flux and easily a generation lost. Or more.
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So it's their fault right?
 
oxat622 said:
Dumb and laughable, but if you were to poll, I don't think safe spaces would come up as a legitimate reason for decline.
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It’s the prevailing sentiment that is the issue. Not necessarily “safe spaces” , but the ideology that “straight” is bad, especially for males.
 
thisisinsane said:
It’s the prevailing sentiment that is the issue. Not necessarily “safe spaces” , but the ideology that “straight” is bad, especially for males.
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Okay, but that can occur anywhere, not just college campuses.

If that story didn't mention the school by name, and only said a college in Ohio, Oberlin would have been my guess.
 
oxat622 said:
Okay, but that can occur anywhere, not just college campuses.

If that story didn't mention the school by name, and only said a college in Ohio, Oberlin would have been my guess.
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Check out “The Coddling of the American Mind” and it’s complimentary website: www.thecoddling.com

Sure, I guess “it” could happen anywhere. However, this Alphabet movement/sensitivity movement has been heavily fostered on college campuses across the country. You act like this ideology is permeating through the steel mills and factory floors…
 
oxat622 said:
Dumb and laughable, but if you were to poll, I don't think safe spaces would come up as a legitimate reason for decline.
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It's a cumulative effect. Males are second class citizens on many campuses and white males are lower still. Why would anyone pay top dollar to go someplace they aren't welcome?
 
lotr10 said:
It's a cumulative effect. Males are second class citizens on many campuses and white males are lower still. Why would anyone pay top dollar to go someplace they aren't welcome?
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Sounds like males are second-class citizens at trans/female-only safe space dorms at hyper-liberal schools like Oberlin. I wouldn't use that same brush to paint the entire college landscape though.
 
oxat622 said:
How do you know people in those jobs don't do those things? How do you know that doing those things overwhelmingly prevents health complications among those jobs? Not wanting to work a job that comes with health and safety hazzards doesn't make someone a wuss.
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Not pursuing a job that has physical requirements because you’re afraid of hard work does
 
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