The College Degree Gap for Blacks is Huge: 2:1

In 2009, there were more than two college degrees awarded to black women for one every degree earned by a black man.

The table above is based on data from the Department of Education on college degrees by sex and race/ethnicity, and compares black college graduates by gender for the Classes of 1977 and 2009 (most recent year available). The chart displays the number of degrees earned by black females for every 100 degrees earned by black males. There is huge gender "degree gap" for the general population but that gap is much, much wider for black college graduates compared to the degree gap for all racial/ethnic groups.

For example, there were more than 250 master's degrees awarded in 2009 to black females for every 100 degrees earned by black men, and that degree gap is the widest, followed by the degree gap for Associate's degrees (217.5 black females per 100 males) and Doctor's (Ph.D. and Ed.D.) degrees (198.5 black women per 100).  

Consider also that in 1976-1977, black men outnumbered black women for doctor's degrees and professional degrees (MDs and JDs) and there were 100 doctor's degrees earned by black men for every 63.6 degrees awarded to black females, and 100 professional degrees for black men for every 44.1 degrees earned by black women (more than a 2:1 ratio in favor of black men). By 2009, the gender imbalance had completely reversed and black women outnumbered black men by almost 2-to-1 for doctor's degrees and by 1.63-to-1 for professional degrees. 

In 2009, President Obama signed an executive order to create the White House Council on Women and Girls.  When it comes to successfully completing college degrees, it's clear that it's black men who have fallen way behind black women to become the "second sex" in higher education.  Despite requests to create a similar White House Council on Boys to Men to address the challenges facing boys and men, including the reality that they have become the "second sex" in higher education, Obama seems determined to only address challenges faced by one sex - women, and has shown no interest in addressing the challenges faced by boys and men.  The huge and growing gender imbalance in the black community for attaining college degrees is a serious challenge that you would think would attract some attention, but it has gone largely ignored. 

When there were gender imbalances in college sports it was addressed with federal legislation - Title IX legislation.  Where's the concern today about the growing academic gender disparities in higher education, especially for African-American men?