A possible solution is that many of the degree obtainers are independently wealthy and don't desire employment, or degree getters are going on to further there education by obtaining Masters and/or Doctoral Degrees.

Another possibility is that many more non-college educated men are employed than non-college educated women.

A factor that also has to be taken into account is what field your degree is in. A degree in, for instance, Womens Studies,Media studies or Politics is likely to open far fewer doors than a degree in Computer Science, Maths or Physics.

I graduated with a BS in Physics (one of 2 girls in my class) and I just had to respond to xyz. It's very difficult to get a job with only a Bachelor's in Physics (or Math, for that matter). You have to have at least a Master's Degree to get a job in which you actually use physics. Otherwise, the best jobs you can get are the ones that require you have a degree at all. This puts me pretty much on par with my friend who graduated with a degree in Women's Studies. Except that when I tell people what my major was, their estimation of my intelligence takes a big jump.

Alas, if my experience going to college -- gosh has it been 7 years since I graduated? -- is representative of what's happening now, the Mrs. degree is still alive and kicking and might explain part of the descrepency.

I know where I went to school, there was definitely a majority of women, but many of them were sent by their parents for the express degree of finding the right kind of man whereas these seem parents expected their sons to stay home and help with the family business (and then wondered why their daughters were either going with non-college-going guys or with guys from other ethnicities). While being sent to college to get an Mrs. sure beats being forbidden to attend college and some of those women did, in spite of what their parents were hoping, develop independent lives and careers, the fact remained that at least some women at my school were sent to get their Mrs. and that's what they got, and after college they had kids and don't plan to enter into the workplace until the kids reach a certain age.

A lot may have changed in society in general in the past half-century, but back when I lived there some 7+ years ago, I reckon feminism hadn't fully reached Orange County, CA.

A few standard ideas:

If there is not much job growth, some unemployed become discouraged and discontinue searching for a job, at which point they are no longer counted as part of the labor force. It may be that women are more affected by the lack of job growth than men, as a result of lack of job tenure or job continuity, or possibly even discrimination, and so make a larger share of the discouraged job-seekers. Their alternative to continuing to search, if they are married, is to be a stay-at-home mother, or volunteer, etc., choices for which they will find more social approbation than men would. And because men on average make more money, this is usually a more financially feasible choice than the opposite (i.e. men becoming discouraged searchers, dropping out of the labor force, and relying on their companion.)

Also, because women are typically married to older men, it may be that women are retiring a couple years earlier than men in order to spend time with their spouse.

As for more women earning degrees, you have to have it to make any money, more so than men.

Magpie,

OK, fair enough. I'm thinking more from the exposure to computers. Certainly at my university the Computer Science, Physics and Maths departments were quite closely related with several common modules. I have seen companies that are willing to employ pretty much any science graduate in computer based roles because they are assumed to be computer literate and logical.

That said, it brings up another point, there is more to getting a job than having a degree. Bullshit and arrogance will get you a long way in an interview if you're the kind of person disposed to that and it seems to be what a lot of employers want to hear. You can have qualifications coming out of your ears but if the potential employer doesn't think you are "dynamic" enough they're not going to employ you.