Women zoom ahead of men in college

What’s wrong with male college students?

A lot, it seems.

They come to college better prepared than their female counterparts. Then, they underperform.

Consider the case lesson offered by Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Alpha chapter at the University of South Carolina.

After a series of alcohol-related incidents and damage to its fraternity house, the fraternity got with university officials and established a series of goals that, if completed, could have put the local chapter back in good standing. But university and fraternity officials say the young men simply didn’t do what was asked of them, and earlier this month the fraternity suspended its Alpha chapter’s charter.

USC officials said they were disappointed — but not totally surprised.

Dennis Pruitt, USC’s vice president for student affairs, said male college students at USC, and elsewhere, are not seizing academic and leadership opportunities with the same zeal as female students.

Higher-education officials began discussing the trend about five years ago, but they have not found a way to reverse it.

Their goal is clear. “We want engaged male students,” Pruitt said. “We want more participation. We want them to embrace their responsibilities more seriously.”

There are strong male students on college campuses in South Carolina. The student government president at USC, for example, is a male student, and many other male students have found ways to shine.

But collectively, female students are racing ahead of men in terms of academic performance, leadership and honors.

Each year at USC, for example, 25 to 35 seniors are honored with an “Outstanding Senior Award” for their achievements in college.

In 2010, 77 percent of the recipients were women. In 2009, 67.5 percent of the recipients were women. And in 2008, 78.6 percent of those honored were women.

A report compiled by USC in the spring of 2011 found that fraternity members at USC had a collective grade-point average of 3.02, slightly lower than the overall grade-point average for undergraduate men of 3.04.

Meanwhile, sorority members had a collective grade-point average of 3.42, higher than the 3.3 grade-point average of the undergraduate female students overall.

The performance of female and male students at USC is not unique, higher-education officials say.

Sandi Oliver, vice president for student-development services at Midlands Technical College, said more women are going to college and they have higher graduation rates than men.

Oliver, who has pored over national research on female and male student performance, said there are several reasons for the disparity.

Economics is one reason. Oliver said young men think they can get decent-paying jobs without a college degree. Women don’t share that belief.

“Women often know that, in order to get a good job, they’re going to have to put off their immediate needs and that they’ve got to get a credential,” Oliver said. “They think about it in terms of ladders.”

Maturity is a factor, too.

Oliver said the edge that young women, typically, have in maturity in the years leading up to college leaves them better prepared than their male counterparts.

Pruitt noted that, at USC, men come to college with a slightly higher SAT test score than women, but that gap is closing. And the graduation rate for female students is higher than it is for male students.

Much about the years leading up to college sets the stage for superior female performance in college.

Boys in high school often focus on sports and physical activities, Oliver said, adding that, while many girls also are into sports, many more are into activities that more directly enhance their leadership and academic skills.

And, finally, American cultural issues play a big role in why women are outperforming men in college. “Boys are constantly getting images that those who read and study are geeks,” Oliver said.

Colleges are trying to cope, remolding their young men into better students.

USC, for example, has established various leadership program that officials expect to give male and female students opportunities to excel. The university also is working on a proposal that could lead to a minor in leadership studies.

To foster the academic careers of its African-American male students, Midlands Tech encourages participation in its African-American Male Leadership Institute and the Call Me Mister program, set up to encourage more black men to consider teaching as a career.

“It’s crucial that we present positive images to boys,” Oliver said. “We have to tell them it’s not unmanly or dorky if you’re smart.”