The Gender Gap in Educational Attainment in the United States

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released new data on the educational attainment of the nation’s population.

In 2021, there were 45,442,000 women over the age of 25 in the United States who had earned at least a bachelor’s degree. They made up 39 percent of the total adult population of women in the United States.

There were 39,595,000 men over the age of 25 in the United States who had earned at least a bachelor’s degree. They made up 36.6 percent of the total adult population of men in the United States.

Some 13,793 women had earned a master’s degree but no higher degree. In 2021 there were 10,265,000 men who had earned a master’s degree but no higher degree.

Men still hold a considerable lead in professional fields such as law, medicine, dentistry, etc. In 2021, there were nearly 2 million men who had earned a professional degree compared to 1,475,000 women.

Men over the age of 25 also hold a lead in doctorates. In 2021, there were 2,589,000 men who held doctoral degrees compared to 2,141,000 women. However, over the past several years, women have earned more doctorates than men, Therefore, for adults of all ages, the overall gender gap in doctoral awards in favor of men is shrinking.

The new data set also has statistics on men’s and women’s educational attainment broken down by such factors as marital status, citizenship and nativity, labor force status, occupation, and industry.