1. Sociology 367 Article Summary Sheet
Lecturer
Women and higher education in Utah:
Susan R. Madsen
How girls and women become leaders is what she talks about in conferences.
Utah has the largest gap in the nation: Six percent gap between males and females getting
bachelor’s degrees
Lowest state in the nation
Purpose of the Utah Women and Education Project (UWEP) was to lead efforts within
the state to understand and then motivate more young women to enter and stay in school
long enough to obtain college degrees.
The UWEI is working to increase the number of Utah women holding postsecondary degrees and
certificates, enabling them to more effectively:
Contribute to the local, social, and economic development;
“The value of higher education for women in Utah” a brief she wrote back in 2010.
More educated – more value
Many women said they didn’t need a degree because they weren’t going to use it.
Many say they do not want to go to college (or return) unless they know “exactly” what
they want to do. For example, one states: “I don’t want to waste my time or money.”
Some participants assume that a number of their courses (GE primarily) are a “waste”
because they do not teach them exactly what they think they need to learn.
Only 20% saw education as a good chance to teach children/ example to children
Only 8.6% said that it was for competencies (Critical thinking, problem solving etc.)
Young women need to be taught the broad value of higher education while young
Parents and teachers can teach this value
Three things mainly that contributed the women attending college
Saved money
Visited a college campus – Ex. EFY, FHE, Games, Whatever.
Received a scholarship or grant to attend
Key finding was that women only understood to go to college but not graduate from college.
Sociology 367 Article Summary Sheet
Article: Buchmann et al. article
Author’s main point(s):
Difference between Boys and Girls
“Males tend to obtain higher scores on standardized test, wheras females tend to get
higher grades” (p. 321)

2. “Boys have higher test scores in mathematics and girls have higher test scores in reading”
(p. 321)
Boys higher math performance, girls higher reading performance
Etc. Etc
Reasons why this difference happens in K-12
“Intrinsic capacities and environmental experiences play interrelated roles in the
complex process of learning” (p. 323)
Parents have different roles with males and females. Males are more focused on with
academics and females more focused on house things.
Teacher’s unequal attention to either boys or girls. (p. 324)
Differences between men and women in college
More women enrolled than men
Women received more bachelor’s degrees
Reasons for difference in college
Absent and less-educated fathers (reversal over time toward female advantage)
Status attainment theory
Family-Children mimic their parents. If they went to college, they are more likely to
attend.
“The returns to college have been rising more for women than for men” (p. 328); changes
in the value
How they performed in High school
Institutional-level explanations
Military
Age at marriage
Wages for women have changed giving them more incentive to attend college
Changes in support for traditional gender roles
Class commentary:
Why ed differences between men and women
*In Utah-Religion, marriage, babies. Utah has the 3rd lowest funding for public education
in the nation. We are ranked 41st I think in education rating.
*Outside of Utah- socio-economic status
*What should be done?- Start early with younglings. Parents or teachers should put more
importance on education. Expectations people have should change.
*Elder Scott comment-don’t put off marriage for education. Mix the two. We have a hard time
mixing marriage, family and education.
Personal thoughts and conclusions
I echo what I had mentioned in my discussion board, I really don’t like that society has placed
the value of “female” majors as less than others and has less return after graduation. I believe

3. that their should be more equality in the value of the majors and have an equal return of career
opportunities for all majors after graduation. Obviously this is the ideal, and is nearly impossible
to attain in the real world.