Why Do More Women than Men Want to Earn a Four-Year Degree? Exploring the Effects of Gender, Social Origin, and Social Capital on Educational Expectations.

HIGHER education of women; ACADEMIC degrees; WOMEN'S education -- Social aspects; WOMEN in higher education; WOMEN college students; PSYCHOLOGY; SOCIAL conditions of women

The article discusses the causes for the high proportion of women in four-year degree programs in American colleges. It describes the gender gap in educational expectations and its relation to educational attainment, the systemic social and cultural expectations placed on women in secondary education and high schools, and the gender gap in education among racial and ethnic minorities. Other subjects under discussion include social-psychological explanations for gender gaps in education, the role of parenting and the family in educational attainment, and the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS).