Women value higher education more highly than men do, survey finds

by RACHEL WISEMAN

At a time when women are consistently outperforming men in college enrollment and completion, women tend to value higher education more highly than men do and believe it has had a more positive impact on their lives, according to the results of a survey that was released on Wednesday.

The survey, of more than 2,100 Americans, was conducted by the Pew Research Center in March as part of a larger project on public attitudes toward higher education. (Earlier results were released in May.) Slightly more than a third of respondents to the survey held a bachelor’s degree or higher.

A majority of respondents were not satisfied with the advantages higher education offers, in light of the hefty financial investment it requires. College-educated women, however, were more enthusiastic.

Half of all female graduates of a four-year college considered the country’s higher-education system to be doing an excellent or good job in terms of the value it provided students given the cost. The proportion of men who agreed, however, was significantly lower—only 37 percent of male graduates gave higher education as high marks.

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