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From YourTango

By Mary Jo Rapini

There has been a series of news stories about female teachers having sex with their students. Almost every state in the United States is reporting similiar cases, and everyone is asking the same question: Why? In 2004, the United States Department of Education reported that 40 percent of perpetrators of unwanted sexual attention toward children were women and that number has steadily risen over the past nine years.

To understand why a female teacher would become sexually involved with one of her students, you have to understand what is going on in her head. Most of these women appear to be vibrant, normal, healthy adult women, but they may feel like teenagers themselves inside. Many of them have arrested emotional development; they giggle and carry on very much as a teenager. What’s strange is that they choose one aspect of the student they focus on and they idealize that aspect into being one of honesty, integrity and innocence — separate from the jadedness of the adult world.

Soon they see this teenager as being their age, like a peer. In psychology, this is frequently seen and is called “counter-transference”. The teacher focuses on one aspect of the child and idealizes it romantically; she then projects that on to her distorted reality. No one else realistically sees what the teacher has created in her mind. It becomes so bizarre that soon the teacher is planning her married life with kids after her student finishes high school.

One thing to consider is that we — as the public — tend to focus on the sex part of this relationship because that’s what ultimately leads to the arrest of the teacher. However, an emotional relationship usually develops long before sex take places. That is, the grooming, the meeting up, the numerous texts, the cute hand-written love letters and the sleepless nights. If an intervention is made at this time, you can end the relationship before sex takes place — getting help for the child and taking legal action against the teacher.

Read more on YourTango.com.

By Charlotte Young

Ladies, when you take a look at your college campus, you probably shake your head and ask the same question again: Where are all the men? It appears as if they’ve all stepped to the side to make way for an increase of girl power in college and it’s not just your imagination. The International Business Times reports that on some co-ed campuses, the ratio of girls to boys is almost three to one.

The National Center for Education Statistics observes that the college enrollment increased 38 percent between 1999 and 2009, in total. But during that time span, women enrollment increased by 40 percent compared to the 35 percent increase by men.

And according to them, the disparity between the sexes will only continue to grow. The NCES estimates that by 2013, women will account for 57 percent of students in undergraduate study programs across the country. By 2019, NCES estimates a jump to 59 percent in undergraduate programs.

Advanced degree programs are also experiencing a ratio change. In 2008, women made up 61 percent of the master’s degree students and 51 percent of the doctoral students. That percentage is expected to grow to 61 percent across all advanced degree programs.

The rising numbers of women in college were also observed by the US Department of Education. In 2010, they stated that women “account for a disproportionate share of the enrollments of higher-education institutions at every degree level and are likely to become an even more dominant presence on campuses over the coming decade.”

For African-Americans, the gender difference in school leans even heavier in women’s favor.

So much for meeting your future husband in college.

Linda Sax, professor in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA recognizes that the gender gap is changing concerning women enrollment, but also notes that men are enrolling in school in high numbers as well.

Then why can’t we see them? Sax tells the International Business Times that it’s simply the balance in population.

In addition, she says, “the growing gender gap in college enrollments is attributable primarily to increases in college attendance among women from groups historically under-represented in higher education — namely, African Americans, Latinas, older students, and lower-income students.”

Now with that question solved, here comes the next question: with more women graduating from undergraduate and graduate programs than ever, why are men still likely to advance higher in the work world than women?

According to the International Business times, 53 percent of entry-level new hires are women. But if you take a look up the working hierarchy, the percentages begins to diminish with 37 percent in lower-middle management; 28 percent at the vice-presidency level; then only 14 percent at the executive committee. At the very top, women only represent 3 percent.

There are unfortunately, still several unfair hoops that women must jump through to make it to the top. Another explanation can be found in the degree programs women choose to complete compare to men.

The Chronicle for Higher Education reports that “certain majors in university remain dominated by men,” such as engineering and computer and information sciences.

It seems in addition to focusing getting into school, women must also take into consideration which majors lead to greater professional and financial gain.