Young Black Women Are Significantly Outpacing Black Men in Educational Attainment

Three decades ago, women and men between 24 and 35 years old were just as likely to have completed an undergraduate education, with about a quarter of each group holding bachelor’s degrees in 1995. Today, the share of young women in the United States with a college degree has skyrocketed to 47 percent, compared to 37 percent of young men, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. The increasing gender gap between bachelor’s degree-holders in America was found across every major racial group, with the largest race-gender gap found among Black Americans. Today, roughly 38 percent of young Black women have earned a college degree, compared to just 26 percent of Black men. Three decades ago, 16 percent of Black men and only 14 percent of Black women held a bachelor’s degree. In comparison, White women are 10 percentage points more likely than White men (52 percent versus 42 percent), Asian women are 6 percentage points more likely than Asian men (77 percent versus 71 percent), and Hispanic women are 9 percentage points more likely than Hispanic men (31 percent versus 22 percent) to hold an undergraduate degree. The post Young Black Women Are Significantly Outpacing Black...