Women, Higher Education of

In 2004, women constituted 57 percent of all undergraduate enrollments in U.S. higher education and 59 percent of graduate enrollments, whereas women make up 43 percent of tenured faculty and slightly more than 20 percent of college and university presidents. Female students and faculty are not proportionally distributed across academic fields, although the trend toward women entering fields [Page 859]traditionally dominated by men is increasing slightly. Female faculty and administrators are more likely to be in community colleges than in four-year institutions and less likely to be at research universities than in any other postsecondary education sector. Federal policies (e.g., Title IX and affirmative action) have been responsible for substantial increases in women's participation in higher education, and White women have benefited disproportionately compared to ...