The Marriage Gap for College Women Shrinks
February 9, 2010 | VReitano
When my mother went to college in the 80s, many of the women in her class were looking for husbands. She was looking for a degree, and was able to complete it and get married. According to a new survey reported by Newsweek, women who obtain a degree are more likely to remain married. So does that mean we can stop playing dumb? Going to an all-girls Catholic high school made me value my education, my brains and my ability to answer questions correctly. When I got to college, however, I felt pressure to change my ways. The men in my classes became my greatest adversaries, and instead of relishing in the competition (as I did) they were annoyed. Men, in my opinion, are generally used to being allowed to “act” smarter, and when strong women come into the picture, it is often looked down upon instead of praised. Women like myself, as well as many of my friends, are often thought of as the loudmouths when in reality we are merely trying to gain the same education and opportunities.
Women entering college in the 1950s often felt that this was their last resort to get married, and that stigma seems to have stayed with women in the past few years. Many times women are worried about the situation explained above, and one woman had had enough. Economist Betsey Stevensen, an assistant professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania decided to evaluate the statistics and see if this stigma was indeed still present in today’s college circles. Stevensen and colleague Adam Isen worked together to evaluate numbers from 1950-2008 and found that women no longer suffer from the stigma of over education.
According to the statistics gathered and compared, the difference in marriage rates between those who have college degrees and those who don’t is so miniscule that it doesn’t even count. In the 1950s, the difference was that less than 40 percent of women got married after going to college, as opposed to the 90% who got married after graduating high school. Now it’s more like 86 percent of college grads versus 88 percent of high school grads.
So rejoice women of the world! Go to college, earn your education and you will benefit by possibly being luckier in love!
