大學(xué)陰盛陽(yáng)衰之謎
????事實(shí)簡(jiǎn)單明了,甚至讓人有些不解:相較于男性,女性上大學(xué)的比例更高,而且一旦進(jìn)入大學(xué)校園,她們中途輟學(xué)的可能性也更低。美國(guó)學(xué)士學(xué)位持有者中,女大學(xué)畢業(yè)生現(xiàn)在占據(jù)了約60%的比重。 ????這是否意味著男生不如女生那般勤勉,求學(xué)的決心沒(méi)有女生大呢? ????未必如此。相反,這種性別差異的根源似乎在一定程度上與金錢有關(guān):如今,完成一個(gè)本科學(xué)位越來(lái)越需要金錢作為后盾,男性不太愿意背負(fù)沉重的債務(wù)負(fù)擔(dān)。一旦大學(xué)生所欠的助學(xué)貸款達(dá)到12,500美元,相較于女性,男性“更容易望而卻步”,而且認(rèn)為離開學(xué)校、開始全職工作才是明智之舉。 ????這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)出自一篇刊發(fā)在最近一期《性別與社會(huì)》(Gender & Society)雜志上的研究論文:《性別、債務(wù)與大學(xué)生輟學(xué)現(xiàn)象》(Gender, Debt, and Dropping Out of College)。在勞工統(tǒng)計(jì)局(the Bureau of Labor Statistics)的資助下,三位來(lái)自美國(guó)的俄亥俄州立大學(xué)(Ohio State University)和太平洋路德大學(xué)(Pacific Lutheran University)的教授對(duì)1997年至2011年全美青年縱向研究的數(shù)據(jù)(其中包括對(duì)大約9,000名20多歲的青年人的采訪紀(jì)要)進(jìn)行了分析。 ????事實(shí)證明,勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)長(zhǎng)期存在的薪酬差距是激勵(lì)女性完成學(xué)業(yè)的重要因素之一。就短期而言,男性初入職場(chǎng)的薪水并不會(huì)因?yàn)檩z學(xué)而減少。另一方面,女性一旦輟學(xué),她們的薪酬馬上就會(huì)一落千丈,因?yàn)榕z學(xué)生剛開始工作時(shí)的平均年薪要比男輟學(xué)生低6,500美元。 ????“女輟學(xué)生顯然要面臨更糟糕的就業(yè)前景,”作者寫道?!八齻兏锌赡軓氖滦匠贻^低的服務(wù)類工作,而中途輟學(xué)的男生則更有機(jī)會(huì)在制造業(yè)、建筑業(yè)和交通運(yùn)輸業(yè)中找到薪酬較高的工作?!?/p> ????的確如此,但希望適齡子女讀完大學(xué)的家長(zhǎng)們或許想強(qiáng)調(diào)研究人員更深一層的發(fā)現(xiàn):男輟學(xué)生的薪水優(yōu)勢(shì)往往曇花一現(xiàn)。這項(xiàng)研究指出,雖然畢業(yè)前離開大學(xué)的男生“剛開始不會(huì)面臨多大的工資損失,但這種損失隨后就會(huì)顯現(xiàn)出來(lái),而且還會(huì)與日俱增。邁入中年時(shí),一年下來(lái),擁有學(xué)位的男性要比上過(guò)大學(xué)但沒(méi)有獲得學(xué)位的男性平均多掙2萬(wàn)美元。” ????能夠掙錢時(shí)不愿背負(fù)債務(wù)這一事實(shí)或許有助于解釋為什么輟學(xué)的男生更多,但考上大學(xué)的男生比例少于女生這種現(xiàn)象又該如何解釋呢?在一本名為《女性的崛起:受教育程度日益加劇的性別差異及其對(duì)美國(guó)校園的影響》(The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What It Means for American Schools)一書中,哥倫比亞大學(xué)(Columbia University)社會(huì)學(xué)教授托馬斯?迪普雷特和俄亥俄州立大學(xué)社會(huì)學(xué)教授克勞迪婭?布赫曼試圖解釋這個(gè)棘手的問(wèn)題,并給出了不同于傳統(tǒng)看法的答案。 ????男孩的成績(jī)之所以比女孩差,他們之所以不太喜歡上學(xué),并不是因?yàn)榕⑻焐捅饶泻⒖炭?,也不是因?yàn)閷W(xué)校的環(huán)境對(duì)男孩不夠“有利”——他們寫道。正相反,“我們的研究顯示,男孩在學(xué)校表現(xiàn)不佳更多的是與社會(huì)對(duì)‘陽(yáng)剛之氣’所確立的規(guī)范有關(guān)。相較于其他男生,喜歡參加音樂(lè)、藝術(shù)、戲劇和外語(yǔ)這類課外文化活動(dòng)的男生更熱衷于學(xué)校生活,成績(jī)也更好。但這些活動(dòng)時(shí)常受到貶低,說(shuō)什么缺乏男子氣概。” |
????The facts are plain, if puzzling: Not only do women enter college at higher rates than men, but they're less likely to drop out once they get there. Female grads now account for about 60% of U.S. bachelor's degree holders. ????Does that mean men are less studious or committed than women are? ????Not necessarily. Instead, it seems the gender gap's roots are partly financial: Men are less willing to take on the heavy debt loads that are increasingly required to complete a college degree. When they reach the point of owing $12,500 in school loans, men "are more likely to be discouraged" than women -- and to decide it makes sense to leave school and start working full-time. ????That's according to a new study, "Gender, Debt, and Dropping Out of College," published in a recent issue of the journal Gender & Society. The researchers, three professors from Ohio State University and Pacific Lutheran University, analyzed data from a national longitudinal study of youth from 1997 to 2011, funded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that included interviews with about 9,000 men and women in their 20s. ????It turns out that persistent wage gaps in the labor market play a big part in motivating women to finish school. In the short term, men who drop out face no financial penalty in their entry-level salaries. Women, on the other hand, pay a steep price right away for dropping out, since female dropouts earn entry-level pay that averages $6,500 a year lower than what their male counterparts earn. ????"Female dropouts simply face worse job prospects," the authors observe. "They are more likely to be employed in lower-paying service work, while men who drop out have more opportunities in higher-paying jobs in manufacturing, construction, and transportation." ????True, but parents of college-age kids may want to emphasize one further finding: Male dropouts' earnings advantages are short-lived. While men who leave college before graduating "don't face a wage penalty early on, the penalty accumulates later," the study notes. "By middle age, men with a college degree earn $20,000 a year more, on average, than men with some college but no degree." ????An unwillingness to pile on debt when they could be making money may explain why more men quit school, but what accounts for the fact that fewer men start college in the first place? In a new book called The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What It Means for American Schools, Thomas A. DiPrete and Claudia Buchmann, sociology professors at Columbia and Ohio State, respectively, tackle that thorny question -- and come up with answers that challenge conventional wisdom. ????Boys get lower grades than girls, and report liking school less, not because girls are naturally more studious or because schools aren't "boy-friendly" enough, they write. Rather, "our research shows that boys' underperformance in school has more to do with society's norms about masculinity … Boys involved in extracurricular cultural activities such as music, art, drama, and foreign languages report higher levels of school engagement and get better grades than other boys. But these activities are often denigrated as un-masculine." |