Morning Update: Where the boys aren’t

Good morning. The gender gap in higher education has persisted for many decades. Do universities need to do more to entice men back? More on that below, plus follows to our reporting on the notwithstanding clause and the BC Ferries deal. But first:

Today’s headlines

• A real estate executive, lobbyist and banker held an event for cabinet ministers and MPs, raising concerns over federal lobbying rules
• Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum vowed closer ties Thursday against the backdrop of rising U.S. protectionism
• American television’s remaining active late-night talk shows put on a display of deference to the U.S. President, with a wink
• In Toronto’s Dufferin Grove, a big tent of compassion for homeless encampments begins to fray

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Education

Do universities need to do more to entice men back?

My name is Joe Friesen and I cover postsecondary education at The Globe. I recently wrote a feature on the gender gap in university enrolment, which, to sum it up, is that for every 100 Canadian university students roughly 60 are female and 40 are male.

I got interested in the subject a couple of years ago when reading some of the data coming out of the 2021 census. My previous job as The Globe’s demographics reporter involved writing about population trends, so I like these kinds of stories. There was one Statscan graphic I kept thinking about that showed how large the gender gap had grown. Among people aged 25 to 34, nearly 40 per cent of women had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to about 26 per cent of men, and the gap had been steadily growing.

I’ve been covering universities for about six years now, but I hadn’t written about the gender gap. And with the recent surge in youth unemployment and a sense that young men are adrift, I wanted to revisit it.

What surprised me was how consistent the gap is. It’s there at most universities, it’s there among Canadian students at the college level. It’s been there at medical schools for 20 years or so. I thought it might disappear at the master’s and PhD level, but no, it’s there too.

In the work world, however, men are doing just fine. They still earn more than women on average despite lower levels of education. Among the 25 to 34 age group, the median income for men ($53,600) exceeds that for women ($46,100) by 16 per cent.

Part of that is because men have long been able to earn a good living in manufacturing, the trades and in other places where postsecondary education isn’t a requirement. And as one economist I spoke with points out, that’s perfectly rational. There are lots of good careers that can come from training in certain kinds of skills.

But the implications of the enrolment gap are about more than just money. It strikes me that there is a lot more that happens to a young person in the process of getting a postsecondary education beyond just getting a credential that leads to a job. It tends to lead to better health outcomes and more democratic participation, for example, and it’s an opportunity to engage with science, research and debate.

The number of women university graduates surpassed their male counterparts for the first time as far back as the 1981 census. More than four decades later, it’s not that women have displaced men – there’s no indication that eligible male students are being turned away and there’s no evidence that young men are suffering explicit discrimination, as women did when the enrolment gap was reversed. Men are instead making choices based on their preferences, in a context shaped by societal norms.

I got to speak with a number of young men in researching this piece and it was really interesting to hear their views on education. One of the topics that came up was how early in life their educational paths were set, and how difficult it was to change course.

Some of them have been able to find their way back to university later in life. They talked about how their attitudes to education had changed over time. It was interesting to hear how grateful they were to get another chance. You can read the full story here.

The Shot

‘We preferred to wait in the traffic and walk on the road we know until we reach safely.’

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As Israel’s full-scale offensive to capture Gaza City continues, a new temporary corridor has opened for civilians to flee the beleaguered city and head south. But the short window to use Salah al-Din Road has created confusion and pressure among families, who must make a life-or-death decision in very little time.

The Wrap

What else we’re following

At home: Ottawa is defending its proposal at the Supreme Court of Canada to put limits on governments’ use of the notwithstanding clause.

Abroad: Hundreds of thousands of protesters hit the streets of France in countrywide action against budget cuts and welfare freezes.

Stay tuned: MPs unanimously approved a motion calling on Chrystia Freeland to appear before a committee again after e-mails show the Transport Department knew of BC Ferries deal in advance.

Stay sharp: Five years after Canada first raced to secure COVID-19 vaccines, the country is preparing to roll out made-in-Canada COVID-19 shots.

Stay alert: Jimmy Kimmel’s cancellation is a chilling moment for U.S. democracy, writes television critic J. Kelly Nestruck.

Stay connected: How to break the digital friendship death loop and actually spend time together IRL.