Men and women are increasingly diverging politically, a notably pronounced trend on college campuses.
College-aged men—a shrinking demographic—have become more conservative, while college-aged women have moved into the liberal camp. Young women are more likely than their male counterparts to vote, care about political issues, and participate in social movements and protests. A cursory look at the recent spring protests related to the pro-Hamas protests often had women leading the charge; women were at the center of hunger strikes and public statements that were divorced from facts and established truths.
Many of those leading protesters know very little about what they are protesting.
A June 2024 survey of over 3,000 college and university students from The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) reveals the extent of this collegiate ignorance. Female students, who are more often on the front lines of protests, are far less in tune with America’s history and political system than young men.
Regarding specific, detailed knowledge about key political figures and actors, the gender differences are substantial.
For example, only 35 percent of students today can correctly name Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana as the current Speaker of the House of Representatives. There is a 14-point gap between men and women, with 43 percent of men and 29 percent of women knowing the correct answer. Similarly, only 37 percent of students correctly identified John Roberts as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Here, the gender gap widens to 16 points, with 47 percent of men and 31 percent of women correctly naming Roberts. This is notable given the increased visibility of the high court to younger people after the 2022 ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson abortion case, which returned the question of abortion to the individual states, triggering considerable engagement from various women’s organizations.
Gender differences sadly persist based on theoretical understandings of American history and institutions.
For instance, few students could recall the length of terms for members of Congress. The ACTA data reveals that just 40 percent of students correctly know that Senate terms are six years and House of Representatives terms are two years. Roughly 48 percent of men knew the correct answer, while just 36 percent of women knew—a 12-point difference.
The disparity between collegiate men and women persists in several essential American civic questions. For instance, when asked which branch of government has the power to declare war, 42 percent of men knew the correct answer, compared to only 26 percent of women. Similarly, about 40 percent of men correctly stated that the U.S. Senate holds the trial over impeachment, while only 28 percent of women knew this. Many women in the survey mistakenly believed impeachment trials occur in the Supreme Court. Given the recent impeachments of Trump in 2019 and 2021 and the frequent calls to impeach Presidents, it is concerning that so many students lack an understanding of the actual process.
The ACTA survey disturbingly reveals the gap in civic understanding between men and women, and, of course, these survey results do not apply to all women. Therefore, the survey cannot—nor should not—be used to make rash generalizations. However, it would be unwise to ignore the growing gender gap on our campuses nationwide and the genuine implications of how men and women differ. The fact is that there are more women on campus today, and the protests have been feminized, with women taking the lead in political action. This is a sharp change from the past cases of mass student movements where men tended to dominate campus unrest in the past.
As a professor who regularly deals with protesters and angry students making demands, it has become painfully clear that those most judgmental are also the least knowledgeable about the history and realities of political life and public policy. Said students are, more often than not, women. And they are diverging from men in political behavior and civic understanding, perhaps because they can be swayed by emotional appeals more easily than men, as was the case with the anti-Israel protests.
Activist and ignorant students pose a real problem for genuine education and civility on and off campus as students enter the real world. We ignore this reality at our peril; our education system and local communities have failed to teach our students our history and an accurate understanding of civics, which puts our republic in danger. The rise of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” principles, along with a powerful feminist ideology on campus, has radically changed our education priorities and the very substance and nature of education. Our students are profoundly uninformed though opinionated, and rather than learn about how democracy functions, many just default to protest and call for the destruction of our institutions.
This can and must change with a fundamental civics education for all students.
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Interesting survey results! A few caveats:
Johnson and Roberts are Republicans. It would be interesting to see if there is as much of a gender gap regarding prominent Democrats
You write that there is a “growing” gender gap, without presenting any evidence. I believe men were more knowledgeable than women about politics when I was coming of age, a long, long time ago. In fact, it was accepted that men “should” know more about politics.
You assert that the protesters were misinformed about Israel-Palestine, without presenting any supporting evidence. Since in the US misinformation about that conflict is highly skewed in favor of Israel, I would wager that you are seriously mistaken.
In engineering we still focus students on taking data and using it as the basis for understanding truth. To the left side of campus, data and the truth discovered therein is an unexplored and bothersome topic.
I think Mr. Abrams, Patti and Jerry all offer factors that help explain why women have been more involved in the cultural protests in recent years. I think you can add protests over climate change, animal welfare and the transgender movement, too. At least from what I can tell. Possibly even the most recent reincarnation of the anti-racism movement and its offspring; CRT, white fragility, white guilt and structural white supremacy/racism. Then are today’s women more likely to be sympathetic to the Marxism of the Frankfurt school based on critical theory? I wonder if that is reflected on campus today. I’d appreciate others observations.
When you major in areas lacking any rigor (womens studies, black studies, queer studies, etc.), you have plenty of time on your hands—which can be used to participate in protests. Few males major in those areas. Perhaps that can partially explain why the bulk of protesters on campus are female.
Majoring in one of those “hyphen-studies” areas is all about indoctrination and preparing the students to protest.
Do you object to Freedom Studies at the Declaration of Independence Center at Old Miss? https://independence.olemiss.edu/education/