Gender Differences in Employment Status of College Students and Recent Graduates

A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides data on the employment of recent high school and college graduates. More than 62 percent of 2022 high school graduates were enrolled in college in October 2022. More than 66 percent of women high school graduates in 2022 were enrolled in college compared to 57 percent of male high school graduates.

For 2022 high school graduates enrolled in college, 29 percent of women were also working compared to 26.6 percent of men. Some 9.1 percent of women 2022 high school graduates enrolled in college, were unemployed compared to 14 percent of men. The unemployment rate is calculated by taking the number of people actively seeking a job but are unable to find one.

For all people 16 to 24 years of age, 11,606,000 were enrolled in college. Of these, 56 percent were women. About 45 percent of all women in this age group who were enrolled in college also held a job. This was just slightly higher than the rate for men. The unemployment rate for both women and men college students was 5.5 percent.

For people 20 to 29 years of age, women made up 58 percent of all students who earned a bachelor’s degree in 2022. Some 77.6 percent of these recent women college graduates were employed compared to 79.1 percent of men. But only 5.2 percent of 2022 women college graduates in this age group were unemployed, about half the rate for 2022 male college graduates.