In 1970, men outnumbered women in U.S. colleges by 58 percent. By 2000, enrollment shifted; women outnumbered men by 56 percent. Not only have women been enrolling in college in larger numbers than men, they have superior study habits, which translates to better grades and better completion rates, according to a nationwide study.
The United States’ female college students are more likely to read their textbook thoroughly, study daily, party less, earn “A”s in their courses and graduate in less time than male college students, according to Student Monitor’s study of 10 college campuses.
The study, commissioned by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), was conducted to help publishers and educators better understand student study habits.
It proved what the textbook publishers had suspected for years.
“Using textbooks effectively will have an impact on grades,” says Stacy Scarazzo, the AAP’s assistant director for higher education. “We already knew this, but we needed the study to back it up.”
But what started out as a relatively routine industry-sponsored study also revealed a surprising result.
“The by-product of the study was the differences between genders,” said Eric Weil, managing partner of Student Monitor.
The study showed 46 percent of women study daily while only 34 percent of men do the same.
In turn, the study showed students who study daily are 40 percent more likely to earn an “A” than students who do not study daily.
The differences in GPA between males and females at the University show females are beating out males in terms of grades.
The average GPA of female students at the University during Spring 2005 was 3.20, while the average GPA of male students was 2.98.
The cumulative GPAs of males as of Spring 2005 was 2.98 and the cumulative GPA of females during Spring 2005 was 3.17, which shows even over the long run, females attained better GPAs.
“Men are not studying as efficiently and they are spending more time skimming their books and not reading textbooks as thoroughly as women,” Scarazzo said.
The study showed women are 21 percent more likely to study 15 or more hours weekly and 23 percent more likely to read their textbook thoroughly.
As a result, students who study 15 or more hours weekly are 43 percent more likely to earn an “A” than those who don’t, according to the study.
“This research confirms that hard work matters, and quantifies the difference between those students with a set of solid study habits and those without,” Weil said in a press release.
Another important finding in the study was that college men party 20 percent more than college women.
“Boys are partying more,” Scarazzo says. “There is a correlation between time spent partying and time spent studying.”
Students who party for more than two nights weekly are 17 percent less likely to earn an “A,” 21 percent less likely to study daily and 6 percent less likely to graduate in four years.
Poor study habits translate to students taking longer to complete their degrees.
“Currently, only one-half of all public four-year college and university students are graduating in four years or less,” AAP’s Executive Director for Higher Education Bruce Hildebrand said in a press release.
As a result, colleges are under growing pressure to improve student engagement and help students graduate more quickly to help ease the strain on campus resources, Hildebrand said.
Women use the supplemental tools provided by textbooks more and study late at night less, which results in better grades and faster graduation time, according to the study.
“The facts don’t lie; studying will get you good grades,” Scarazzo said.
The AAP believes using textbooks effectively by reading thoroughly and using supplemental materials will result in students attaining better grades and better completion rates.
“More than $1 million can go into making a textbook, Scarazzo says, “there is a lot that goes into it that gets lost on students.”
The study did not explain why female college students are studying more effectively than men.
“Boys are more easily distracted and women are just more focused,” Weil said.