First Advisor
Dr. Marcus Sharpe
Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Psychology and University Honors
Department
Psychology
Language
English
Subjects
college gender gap, United States, hegemonic masculinity, gendered parenting
Abstract
Women’s college attendance skyrocketed with the passing of Title IX, and by the eighties, college campuses featured men and women at an even fifty-fifty split. Today, women make up over fifty-seven percent of college students. It is not a new phenomenon, studies and surveys have shown that women are doing better at school for decades, but they rarely tie men’s underperformance to the concept of masculinity. The study of hegemonic masculinity is an overarching theory that looks at the values, rules, and dynamics that men have to follow in order to keep their social status. This literature review uses said framework for connecting research from different subfields together to observe how boys are shaped from an early age through gendered parenting and adhering to masculine ideals, leading to academic struggles in school and later in college via early childhood behavioral problems, help avoidance, male silence, and gender role conflict.
Recommended Citation
Csikos, Marcell V., "The Educational Gender Gap Explored Through the Lens of Hegemonic Masculinity" (2026). University Honors Theses. Paper 1895.