“Women: The Other Half (Maybe More),” by author Timothy Trainer
In the days and weeks following the murder of Charlie Kirk, those active on social media and the news reporting industry have provided massive amounts of information and opinion.
Much of what has been said and written is simply noise, easy to overlook. One issue that raised my curiosity and prompted a little “research” was the issue of women in the workplace as opposed to being stay-at-home wives/moms. This one is particularly difficult to let go of, along with many other issues that have been raised.
The discussion or debate about women is an interesting topic. Historically, women were sidelined, kept behind a wall and prevented from doing many things, including things as basic as pursuing an education, entering various occupations, and voting. As a result, it’s ear-piercing to hear anyone talk about the role of women and expressing a desire to return to the past.
With the issue raised, it was worth finding some statistics about where we are. It’s important to know where we are today and how today’s situation might affect the future.
Multiple sources point to the fact that women are taking education more seriously than their male counterparts. A Forbes article reported that nationally women make up 58% of all college students and by 2021 there were approximately three million more women in college than men: Women Continue To Outpace Men In College Enrollment And Graduation. The Forbes report looked at other sources and noted that this phenomenon of more women in college than men was the case in all 50 states and that in 13 states the women made up at least 60% of college students.
The situation is the same or worse, depending on your viewpoint, at the level of graduate studies, where women earned nearly 63% of master’s degrees: College Enrollment Statistics [2025]: Total + by Demographic. The legal profession has seen a significant change in the proportion of women pursuing and obtaining law degrees. Since 2019, more women than men have earned law degrees every year, and the gap is growing: Women in the Legal Profession. In 2023, approximately 55% of law school graduates were women.
Academic areas where women have not yet caught up are in physical and earth sciences, mathematics and computer sciences, and engineering: STEM Statistics: Higher Education | National Girls Collaborative Project. Perhaps it is simply a matter of time. Women do earn a majority of bachelor’s degrees in psychology, biological sciences, and social sciences.
For some, the return to the past may look attractive, though unrealistic. It seems a silly debate and notion to tell anyone, male or female, to sit back and not exercise one’s intellectual capabilities to the fullest in their areas of interest. Are women succeeding in the halls of academic institutions because they are more motivated than their male counterparts? If women are more willing to learn, self-motivate and succeed, not only do they as individuals benefit, but society benefits given the diverse areas they will enter when they move into the work force.
It is a preposterous idea to tell half of the human species to forego their ambitions, put aside their curiosity and not work toward fulfillment. Given these statistics, it’s hard to accept any argument that men are having their jobs taken from them if they aren’t motivated enough to take their education seriously and fill the positions that require a greater level of learning.
Ultimately, we should be celebrating the fact that where men seem to have lost their motivation to pursue education at higher levels, women have stepped in and stepped up.
