The number of young men attending university is in free fall, with new figures revealing women now make up almost two-thirds of domestic students starting higher education.
Over the past decade, the number of women studying has increased while the number of men has gone backwards, with many citing high costs of a degree as a deal-breaker.
Young women are also more likely to complete uni, and hold a bachelor degree or above, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data.
Women accounted for about 62 per cent of students in 2024.
There were 252,590 women starting higher education the same year, compared with 158,103 men.
For Brad Felton, 20, from Blacktown in Western Sydney, bypassing more study, and going straight into work felt like the smarter choice.
Mr Felton is working full-time as a tradie in flooring while training to become a firefighter.
He said classroom-style education did not suit the way he learned.
“I am a hands-on, try-to-do-something-until-I-get-it-right person,” Mr Felton said.
“School to me was very isolating … where you got spoken at and told exactly how things had to be and what you needed to remember, and if you couldn’t, you just didn’t do well.”
He said at school, he was told uni was the best option, even though trades and TAFE were not discouraged.
But the cost of a degree was a major deterrent.
“Constantly being told that we are in a cost-of-living crisis and I’ll never own a home doesn’t help when someone is trying to get you to spend 50 grand on a degree that you might not even want in 10 years,” he said.
“So the idea of immediately putting myself into debt was a strong deterrent.”
Mr Felton said earning money and learning how to support himself made more sense than taking on debt.
“It felt like a no-brainer,” he said.
Anthony Ferraria, 24, now living in Port Stephens, went straight into university after school before changing his mind and becoming a technician.
He said his school “heavily implied” university was the path after school, with little consideration given to TAFE or other career options.
He said he did not fully understand HECS debt when he enrolled.
“It hasn’t crippled my life, but I wish I knew the consequence of not being sure of my education,” Mr Ferraria said.
He said the moment he knew he would not finish came after sitting a genetics final exam.
“I knew I had flunked it,” he said.
“It was more build-up from the years I was at uni, but I knew at that point that I wasn’t going to see it through.”
Mr Ferraria said he believed university remained important for research and other professions, but many young people were now focused on what would deliver a reliable lifestyle, fast.
“Most people are just interested in what will give them a reliable, good-quality lifestyle and most uni degrees can’t deliver that,” he said.
Julian Jelacic, 22, also from Blacktown, is studying a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science while working as a chef.
He said university and a strong ATAR were treated as the main measures of success at school.
“Trades were available, but they weren’t spoken about with the same prestige,” Mr Jelacic said.
“Looking back, I think there should have been more emphasis on different pathways because success isn’t one-size-fits-all.”
He said many young men wanted a pathway where they could start earning and building a career immediately.
“At the same time, university is expensive, takes years, and doesn’t always guarantee a job,” he said.
This gender gap begins before students even reach university.
Women applied, received offers and enrolled at university in higher numbers than males, a submission by the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) to a federal inquiry into educational attainment said.
UAC said more males achieved high ATARs above 98, but more females achieved ATAR results in almost every category between 45 and 98.
Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success executive director Professor Shamit Saggar said the male share of university enrolment had been declining for some time across advanced economies.
“One of the strongest predictors of university participation is success at school and here, research consistently finds that girls on average perform better than boys,” Professor Saggar said.
“This increases the likelihood of higher education participation.”
Education Minister Jason Clare said the government wanted a better and fairer education system for “rich and poor, city and bush, boys and girls”.
“More women enrol in university than men. More men enrol in TAFE and in apprenticeships than women,” Mr Clare said.
“The bottom line is this, in the years ahead more jobs are going to require more and more skills.”
Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy said any decline in university participation was concerning.
“This should never be about pitting students against each other – it’s about making sure anyone with the ability and ambition to go to university can get there and succeed,” Mr Sheehy said.
Western Sydney University Vice-Chancellor Professor George Williams said reforming the “unfair Morrison-era Job-ready Graduates package” should be a priority if Australia was serious about encouraging more young men into university.
“With nine out of 10 new jobs to be created in the next decade requiring a post-secondary education, there is a real risk that a generation of men will be locked out of the best new jobs,” Professor Williams said.
For young men like Mr Felton, university is still relevant, but it is no longer the only serious path.
“There are so many great paths nowadays that to not look around would be stupid,” he said.