I'm doing a research paper about college dropout rates among women.

My questions are (ladies only, please! Sorry guys...):
What do you think is the biggest struggle for women in college?
Should we care about dropout rates rising?
Have you yourself considered dropping out of college (if you are/have attended)?

I'm in my third year of university in Ontario.... I'll answer your questions :)

- Maybe I've just been lucky, but I can't really think of any struggles that women face that men wouldn't face. Although, I'm in the social work program, so my experience might be different than a woman in a more male-oriented faculty. For example at my school, most students studying engineering are male. I would imagine that if I were a female studying engineering, I might encounter some sexism - as far as people thinking that I'm not as smart as the other males in my class, or that I wouldn't make a good engineer because I'm a woman. That's just speculation though, I can't say that for sure. I'm not very helpful, am I? Haha.

- Firstly, I wasn't even aware that drop out rates are rising! But maybe I'm just uneducated... which would be ironic. But to answer your question, yes. We should care that drop out rates are rising - this would indicate that something is discouraging women from participating in college, which is an issue that needs to be addressed.

- Nope, never. Not seriously anyway - there's been times when I've had 5 essays due in one week and I've thought to myself "... why am I doing this again?" Haha. But no, I've never actually thought about dropping out.

Hope that helps! Good luck with your paper. I have a 9-page one due tomorrow that I should probably be working on right now...

Thanks!

Hehe. To procrastinate studying for the final I have tomorrow, I will have to answer your questions. :D

It depends on the age group, too. If it's a nontraditional student, then they'll have different struggles to face than students entering college straight out of high school. Nontraditional students, like the mothers who go to school after having children (like my mother, who got her BA after my sister and I were born) have to balance a job, children, and a home with their education. I have noticed, however, that the students like these women tend to do the best in school, but that may just be what I've noticed. :) So they have much more to deal with and some women believe that their education takes a backseat to this.
I believe that there is also some sexism still in college. Of course, it depends on where you are, what your major is, and whether it is a male-oriented major. For my first two years of college, I went to school in Wyoming and I saw more sexism there than I do now (in Oregon). I had a geology professor in Wyoming who was kind of sexist. For instance, he'd always "picked on" women who hesitated when answering a question, but he never did the same for men. He'd say, "Why are you hesitating? Why do my female students always hesitate? The men never hesitate. Just ANSWER the question!" And then a young man would hesitate and he wouldn't say anything, he'd let the young man put his thoughts together. 8| I also had a professor that made me really, really uncomfortable (my mom his class when she went back to college and she said to me, "He think he's such hot stuff."), but that's an entirely different story, except I think it can be chalked up to a struggle. ;D

Yes, I think we should worry. Why are they dropping? Is it only women or is it men, too? Are there simply too many jobs available that don't require an education? Is it the money required? (Stupid student loans...) Is there a (I hate to use this word) "regression"?

I personally love college. I love learning. I love my major. But I certainly HATE the money required. ;D (I just haaad to go to college out-of-state.) I've never seriously considered dropping out. College was always the next step for me. After this, I'm getting my Master's. ;D I just don't know how I'll pay for it! More student loans, I guess. ;)

Sorry about the long post. I'm SERIOUSLY procrastinating.

I've been procrastinating too...lol. In fact, my friend and I came up with a 12 days of school song...it'll be in my diary later.