A theory on low numbers of rural women in graduate schools

Growing up, my answer to what I wanted to be when I was older was always, "a soccer mom." This answer wasn't met with laughter, as one might have expected, as being a stay-at-home mother was a common career path for women in my hometown. Many of these stay-at-home moms were a product of necessity, as their husbands were military men who could be deployed or re-stationed at any moment. Due to their husband's career choices, they were left with very few of their own. I theorize that the commonality of rural women marrying military men affects their graduate school enrollment rates. 

Women are enrolling in graduate school at a higher rate than men. In the fall of 2020, students who are biologically female accounted for 59.7% of incoming students, whereas students who are biologically male accounted for only 40.3%. This seems like a positive trend for women, who historically enrolled in post-secondary education at a rate much lower than their male counterparts. The bad news is that only 9% of rural women participate in this trend. 

A lack of access and resources in the primary education sector is not uncommon in rural areas. To assume these deficits don't account for low undergraduate and graduate enrollment for those from rural communities would be naive. A quick quote from a prior blog post about rural education illustrates:

According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, a larger percentage of public schools in rural areas reported being under-enrolled, reported a lack of instructional computers with internet access, and a lack of counselors, social workers, and special education teachers. Most rural schools face higher costs with lower revenues, and spend an average of 10 percent less per student than metropolitan communities. Teachers in rural communities often have less training, receive lower pay, and are overall less educated than teachers in non-rural communities.

Primary education in rural communities has much room for improvement. However, the issues in rural primary schools are not the only reason that rural women enroll in graduate school at a much lower rate than the American average. 

My theory that women choose to marry military men over enrolling in graduate schools is further evidenced by a common career path for rural teenagers. Instead of enrolling in post-secondary education, many rural teens enlist in the military. In 2011, rural residents made up 44% of the enlisted forces, even though they accounted for only 17% of the population. According to a 2005 Washington Post article, high rural enlistment rates are often due to the lack of economic opportunities afforded to young rural residents. The only options many rural youth see are to sign up for a lifetime of repaying student loans with the hope of making money in the future or to sign up for a guaranteed paycheck, job security, education benefits, 30 days of annual paid vacation, housing, food security, free health care, education plans, and many other enticing benefits. This could be a viable career option for teens of all gender identities but biological women make up only 16% of the total enlisted forces. 

Other benefits associated with military enrollment are the benefits that accrue by virtue of a soldier's marital status. From the spousal perspective, those include free health care (including births), free housing, and world travel. Service members also receive additional pay for their spouses and avoid living in the dorms on base. These benefits largely fuel the stereotype that military members marry quickly, and the stereotype is backed up by data. For example, 64.8% of those in the active duty Army are or have been married, in contrast to 45% of all Americans who are married. 

This correlates with the higher marriage rate in rural communities. This map shows that marriage rates in rural communities are above average: 

Many career paths that require higher education, especially those that require graduate school, require state-specific licensing and certification. These professions include lawyers, doctors, teachers, accountants, nurses and other medical technicians, veterinarians, and more. Furthermore, job markets vary from region to region. 

Military spouses are often limited in what careers they can pursue due to the constant moves. It is common for service members to change assignments, requiring them to move to a different base across the country (or even to another country). Frequent moves make it very difficult to get and retain jobs, especially with a career that requires post-secondary education. By the time a lawyer spouse would be able to study and pass the bar for the new state they moved to, they are likely packing up their house to move again. The same goes for most careers that require state certifications. Thus, it is easier and more cost-efficient to pursue a career that does not require any level of state certification, and therefore does not require a post-secondary degree. 

Although this is a working hypothesis, there seems to be a correlation between the anomalously high statistics for rural marriage and military enlistment and the low statistics for rural women pursuing graduate education. This theory, alongside the rural primary education systems and other socioeconomic factors, correlates and should be examined to reconcile the disparity between rurality and the graduate school enrollment rates for rural women in the United States.