FACTORS AFFECTING THE REVERSAL OF GENDER DISPARITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (HEIS): A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

The commencement of higher education has observed male dominance for a very long time. However, over the past two decades, this situation has reversed. Male students are considered as a new minority in higher education institutions. This phenomenon is prominently observed in industrialized countries of the world and termed as ‘changing gender disparity’ in higher education institutions. Countries like the U.K., USA, Netherland, Germany and France are noticeable examples of the changing gender disparity. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the year 2019 observed a significant increase in female students’ participation (more than 56%), whereas male students have deteriorating participation in higher education institutions.  The European countries tend to have a similar trend whereby female students are outnumbering male students in terms of enrollment in higher education institutions. These changing gender disparity measures could result in social imbalance, causing severe social problems. For this purpose, it is crucial to determine the factors that caused the reversal of gender disparity in higher education institutions. In this context, this paper systematically reviews the literature on the factors causing less male participation in higher education institutions. The paper has adopted the PRISMA protocol for Systematic Literature Review (SLR). The paper has identified research papers that have attempted to identify the factors affecting less male participation in higher education. Furthermore, the paper has also highlighted the factors which have been identified by previous peer reviewed studies. The findings of this paper can be a potential source of information for further studying the issue related to the reversal of gender disparity, thus contributing significantly towards the relevant literature.