Recent months have witnessed heightened gender-related conflicts in higher education. From debates over transgender athletes to challenges against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, a narrative portraying universities as ideological battlegrounds has gained traction. Political figures, including Vice President J.D. Vance, have amplified this perspective, saying “universities are the enemy” as sites of indoctrination rather than education.[1]
Beneath these controversies lies a significant but often unacknowledged factor: women’s dramatic ascendance in higher education. The gender gap in college enrollment has reached historic proportions, with female-identified learners constituting approximately 60% of U.S. college students.[2] This unprecedented shift, a cornerstone of women’s empowerment and presence in the workforces, appears to have become a focal point for those seeking to reshape or constrain the university system.
The gender gap in education begins well before college, with girls outperforming boys in reading and writing during elementary years and making up 60 percent of the top students graduating from high school.[3] In the 1990s, some universities began giving boys extra points on their applications, owing to concerns that students might avoid gender imbalanced schools. While federal law never sanctioned this kind of affirmative action, a Title IX lawsuit filed against the University of Georgia in 1999 effectively ended the practice.[4]
The historical context illuminates the significance of this transformation. Before the mid-20th century men made up 80% of college students.[5] Women’s integration into universities in substantial numbers, accelerating after World War II, represented a profound social change. This evolution challenged established gender norms, created pathways to professional careers for women, and contributed substantially to their economic and social independence.[6]
The increasing presence of women in higher education stands in direct opposition to reactionary ideologies evident in current university critiques. The Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025,” with its emphasis on traditional family structures and gender roles, fundamentally conflicts with the educational empowerment of women in contemporary and growing representation in academic leadership.[7]
More troubling are efforts to make campus environments less safe for female identified students. Challenges to Title IX protections, which shield students from sexual harassment and assault, weaken safeguards for survivors and foster an atmosphere of vulnerability.[8] These actions extend beyond procedural adjustments to undermine fundamental principles of gender equity, potentially creating environments where women feel marginalized.
While the implications of these challenges threaten to compromise higher education’s core mission of developing critical thinkers and engaged citizens, they also undermine the relationship between universities and their communities.[9] Transcending political disagreement, this crisis undermines the nature of knowledge, the function of education in democratic society, and who shapes our collective narrative.[10]
[1] Anemona Hartocollis, “The New Culture Wars Targeting American Higher Education,” The New York Times (New York: The New York Times Company, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/us/politics/college-culture-wars.html
[2] National Center for Education Statistics, “Undergraduate Enrollment by Gender,” Digest of Education Statistics (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2024), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/
[3] Susan Domuinus, “There was Definitely a Thumb on the Scale to Get Boys,” New York Times Magazine (Sep. 8, 2023), https://archive.ph/Clsa9
[4] Ibid.
[5] Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz, The Race between Education and Technology (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2022).
[6] John R. Thelin, A History of American Higher Education (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021
[7] Heritage Foundation, Project 2025: Presidential Transition Project (Washington, DC: Heritage Foundation, 2023), https://www.project2025.org/
[8] David Cantor, Bonnie Fisher, and Susan Chibnall, “Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct,” American Association of Universities (Washington, DC: Association of American Universities, 2023), https://www.aau.edu/key-issues/campus-climate-and-safety/aau-campus-climate-survey-2023
[9] Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2024).
[10] Michael Kimmel, Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era (New York: Nation Books, 2023).