Minorities in higher education 2008: twenty-third status report.

In October 2008, the American Council on Education released its twenty-third annual report on the status of minorities in higher education. The report traces the academic pipeline from high school completion through college administration, examining the representation of racial and ethnic groups at each rung of the ladder. In addition to an abundance of data disaggregated by race and ethnicity, the report frequently includes information additionally disaggregated by gender. As a result, it is a useful resource on women's status throughout the academic world, primarily as students but also as faculty and administrators.

This year's report includes several new (and in some cases, long-awaited) features. Due to changes in the U.S. Census Bureau's data collection process, the report now includes high school completion rates and college enrollment rates for Asian American and American Indian students. Changes in U.S. Census Bureau data have also allowed for deeper analysis of degree attainment by state, and of college persistence rates. In addition, this year's report takes a closer look than previous versions at income-level differences in college persistence and provides detailed information about the report's terminology and data sources.

Some gender-disaggregated highlights include:

High School Completion. For students aged eighteen to twenty-four, women of all races and ethnicities outpaced their same-race male peers in high school completion in 2006. In aggregate, 79 percent of men and 85 percent of women had completed high school by earning a degree or its equivalent. Among Asian Americans, 92 percent of women and 90 percent of men had completed high school; among whites, 89 percent of women and 85 percent of men; among African Americans, 81 percent of women and 72 percent of men; among American Indians, 75 percent of women and 68 percent of men; and among Hispanics, 73 percent of women and 63 percent of men (6).

College Enrollment. Among students aged eighteen to twenty-four, women had higher rates of college enrollment than men in 2006 (44 percent versus 36 percent). In 2005, among African Americans, women were 65 percent of enrolled students (12); among Hispanic Americans, women were 59 percent (14); among Asian Americans, women were 54 percent (16); and among American Indians, women were 61 percent (16). In aggregate, women were 57 percent of all enrolled students (17).

Associate and Bachelor's Degree Attainment. As was the case with high school completion and college enrollment, women earned higher shares of degrees than men at the associate and bachelor's level in 2005. African American women earned approximately twice as many of these degrees as African American men (26), while Asian American women earned only slightly more associate and bachelor's degrees than Asian American men (60 percent and 56 percent of all degrees, respectively) (27). According to supplementary tables, Hispanic women earned 63 percent of associate and 62 percent of bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanic students, and American Indian women earned 68 percent of associate and 62 percent of bachelor's degrees awarded to American Indian students.

Graduate and Professional Degree Attainment. As of 2005, women outnumbered men in master's, doctoral, and professional degree attainment among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians (30-31). In aggregate, "[m]ost of the growth in master's and doctoral degrees, and all of the growth in professional degrees, was among women" (30).

Faculty. In aggregate, women held smaller percentages of faculty posts as rank increased. Women were more than half of instructors and lecturers (53 percent), but under half of professors (46 percent), associate professors (39 percent), and full professors (25 percent) (42). More African American women than African American men were full-time faculty members (43). In contrast, among Hispanics, Asian Americans, and American Indians, more men than women held full-time faculty posts (44-45).

Presidents and Administrators. As of 2006, women were 23 percent of college and university presidents (43). Among African Americans, 69 percent of presidents were men; among Hispanics, 65 percent of presidents were men; among Asian Americans, 78 percent; and among American Indians, 53 percent (44-45). As of 2005, women were 51 percent of full-time administrators (43). Among African Americans, women were just over half of full-time administrative staff; among Hispanics, women were 56 percent; among Asian Americans, women were roughly half; and among American Indians, women were 53 percent.

In addition to information on field of study at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral level and data on college persistence and administrative positions, the report includes a compendium of extremely detailed and valuable tables. The report, written by Mikyung Ryu, is available for purchase at store.acenet.edu.