As I mentioned in my earlier post, the total number of recent high school grads entering college has a decent balance between genders (source = https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_302.10.asp?current=yes ). The overall average at 4-year colleges appears to be 52% female / 48% male.
It’s not that the males are not enrolling in college. Instead it’s more male students who do enroll are less likely to complete college and graduate after enrolling, and average longer times to graduate. These effects are magnified among URMs Some example stats are below.
Average 4-year College Graduation Rate at 4-Year Colleges
Overall – 48.4% Female / 38.2% Male
Black – 28.0% Female / 18.1% Male
The reasons for the difference in graduation rate are multifaceted. One factor is that in general women average superior academic performs at all levels, ranging from elementary school to college. This superior academic performance is reflected in being less likely to withdraw for academic reasons. Another factor is men feeling more societal pressure to withdraw from college for financial reasons, such as feeling pressure to focus on job over college. Another factor is men are more likely to pursue engineering and other programs that average longer graduation times (for both genders).