Why the Lower College Graduation Rates of Utah Women?

Background of the issue 

Utah has the lowest college attendance and graduation rates for women in the United States. In 1987, the percentages of Utah males and females enrolled in higher education were well above the national average. However, the percentages enrolled for both genders in Utah have decreased over time with the female reductions being most pronounced when compared to the national average. The percentage of female students enrolled in Utah higher education public institutions is 49 percent, while the national average in public institutions is 57.4 percent (UWEP, 2010). Additionally, Utah women drop out of higher education far more frequently than women nationally (Utah Women’s College Task Force, 2012). In 2008, roughly 33.5 percent of U.S. women ages 25-plus held a bachelor’s degree, while only about 27.5 percent of Utah women held a bachelor’s degree (Hoeft, 2011). Interestingly, the female graduation rates in Utah are consistently lower than national averages for all degree focuses such as Child Development, Psychology, Biology, and so on. In other words, even in fields which seem to hold higher appeal for women in Utah (like Nursing and Family Science), the Utah graduation rates for women in those fields still lower than National averages for women in those fields. Additionally, Utah women trail national female graduation rates in all degree attainment levels (UWEP, 2010).

Degree levels attained by women in Utah compared with national averages from from UWEP, 2010.

Some significant demographic and statistical figures highlight the uniqueness of Utah as a state and may hint at reasons for the lower female attendance and graduation rates. Probably the most important factor is that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is headquartered in Salt Lake City and the church claims 69% of the state’s population as members (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2010). The median age at first marriage in 2010 in Utah is 23.5 for the bride, which is the lowest in the nation. The median age at first marriage in the United States in 2010 was 26.2 for the bride (Parks, 2010). In 2006 the average age for women in the United States to have their first child for was 25 years old. In Utah the average age for women’s first child the same year was 23.9. Utah is also the state with the highest fertility rate with the average number of children at 2.6 per woman (State Data Center, 2011).

In addition to Utah-specific statistics, there are some interesting facts about Brigham Young University (owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) that tend to showcase a greater amplification of the general trends in Utah. These statistics highlight the probable role of the Mormon Church in the state’s trends, the student population at BYU being over 98% LDS. In 2005, 51% of the graduates were married. By way of comparison, in the same year, only 3% of Yale’s graduating class was married. And as a national average, 11% of the college class of 2005 were married. Additionally, the overall average age for American woman to marry in that same year was 27. However, at BYU in 2005, the average age at first marriage for women was about 22 years old (Clark, 2005).

In a US News article about cities with high fertility rates, reporter Danielle Kurtzleben makes this observation, “Education and fertility are inversely related; more educated populations tend to delay childbearing in favor of school.” (Kurtzleben, 2011) I would say that the second part of this statement should be reversed, meaning that some people choose NOT to delay childbearing in favor of school and therefore end up being less educated. This type of commitment to early marriage and child-bearing seems to be affecting Utah women’s ability to earn bachelor’s degrees. Childbearing simply seems to be the higher priority for many Utah women than completing their educations. Tellingly, the Utah System of Higher Education issued a study in 2008 which found that many Utahn’s believe men should have more education than women: 49 percent of Utah residents thought men should at least receive a four-year degree, while only 39 percent believed women should receive at least a four-year degree (Hoeft, 2011) In Utah, many women are choosing to start families before they complete their college educations and then often are never able to return to finish their degrees.

Significance and impact

To understand the true significance of this issue, it is important to recognize the benefits education has for individuals, their families, and their communities. Individuals with bachelor degrees are much more likely to earn more financially. Over an adult's working life, high school graduates earn an average of $1.2 million; associate's degree holders earn about $1.6 million; and bachelor's degree holders earn about $2.1 million (Day & Newburger, 2002). It has also been demonstrated that in order to maximize the return on their time and monetary investment, students who do choose to enroll in 4-year colleges should do everything in their power to graduate (Boesel & Fredland, 1999).

A 1998 report published by the Institute for Higher Education Policy reviewed other individual benefits that result from college graduation, including higher levels of saving, increased personal/professional mobility, improved quality of life for their children, better consumer decision making, and more hobbies and leisure activities (Institute for Higher Education Policy, 1998). According to Elchanan Cohn and Terry Geske (1992), there is the tendency for more highly educated women to spend more time with their children; these women tend to use this time to better prepare their children for the future.

An educated citizenry is beneficial to communities and governments. Expressing concern about the fact that Utah has lower attendance and graduation rates of women in higher education than any other state, Utah’s Lt. Gov. Greg Bell said, “This is a huge problem. This is where we ought to concentrate a lot of resources. Utah has a wealth of stranded investment. This is oil in the ground that we can’t reach and we need to reach it.” (Maffly, 2012)

How can we alter the trend?

In order to find appropriate and useful ways of encouraging women in Utah to complete their educations, educators need to understand the reasons behind the problem. The Utah Women and Education Project (UWEP) did some preliminary research, mostly through surveys, to try to get to the bottom of the women and education issue in Utah (UWEP, 2011a). Over the past few years, the Utah Women’s College Task Force (UWCTF) has been focusing on the same issue. Despite the worthy efforts of the UWEP and the Utah Women’s College Task Force, it seems to me that some of the most influential factors were glossed over in these surveys. The factors I’m thinking of include the early age of Utah women at marriage and birth of first child and the culturally and religiously enforced attitudes and beliefs about women in regard to higher education, careers, raising children, and expectations of the roles of husbands and wives.

On February 22, 2012, the UWCTF presented 12 recommendations based on the UWEP’s research results to the Governor’s Education Excellence Commission on ways to increase the number of Utah females attending and graduating college. These recommendations were designed to encourage and support Utah women in beginning and completing their educations. Recommendations included boosting the state’s “college-going culture” by “expanding counseling services, buttressing existing initiatives that support women, creating flexible course offerings, and finding new ways to maintain college credits during long gaps in education.” (The Utah Women’s College Task Force, 2012)

While the UWEP's initiatives will be helpful to women who already find themselves in a difficult situation (those with young children, for example), they seem to fall short of addressing the real roots of the problem. In fact, in their reports, they state that they could not recommend later marrying ages and childbearing because those practices are part of people's religious expression. It's like generously providing Utah women with some bandages for the wounds after they are already inflicted. Why should we, as a State, continue to allow a culture to flourish in which women continue to succumb to injury? Not attaining a higher education in the modern world IS an injury.

I contend that the real root of the problem lies in the culture and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). In the current manual that the Church uses to teach its 12 year old girls, for example, the message is clear. Teachers are told to "explain that if we believe that life as a wife and mother is routine and boring, it will be. But if we can understand our divine purposes and realize the great potential we have, our role will take on greater meaning than any other task in this world. By cheerfully and enthusiastically supporting our husbands and by bearing, nurturing, and teaching righteous spirits, we can experience the greatest fulfillment" (Young Women Manual 1, 2002). The Young Women Program in the Church is centrally focused around preparing the young ladies for marriage and motherhood. Is education mentioned in a few of the lessons? Yes. But education is always framed as a way for women to be better mothers...to be better teachers of their children. This is not motivation enough to put off having said children to get another few years of education! And there is such an emphasis on the "role" of women as mothers, that the mentioning of education here and there pales drastically in comparison to that main emphasis.

The cultural and religious factors at work in Utah need greater attention and investigation. If there is going to be an increase in the rates of college graduation for Utah women in the future, those influences need to be tackled head on.

References

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