Kara Sprague, of Brunswick, attends annual Clark U. counselor symposium on growing college gender gap

WORCESTER, MA (04/07/2014)(readMedia)-- Kara L. Sprague, of Brunswick, ME, a counselor for tenth through twelfth grade students at Hall-Dale High School n Farmingdale, participated in the third annual counselor symposium at Clark University, titled "Where Are the Men?" (March 23-24).

Sprague was among more than 40 school counselors and college advisers who came to Clark to explore the growing gender gap between young men and women attending and completing college. The first day of the symposium focused on an exchange of information, research, and anecdotal experiences to better understand the effect of gender differences on the approach to engaging college-bound students, while the second day was more interactive, featuring discussions with students and a campus tour.

The counselors met with admissions staff, selected faculty members and students to learn about the university and to engage in dialogue about how to better address the college gender gap (generally around 60 percent women and 40 percent men) at the high school level.

Sprague remarked on having "great conversations about how to work with male students during the college application process and growing trends in higher education."

Michael Addis, Clark professor of psychology and author of "Invisible Men: Men's Inner Lives and the Consequences of Silence," shared his research that cultural understandings of masculinity affect young men's well-being, including their social-emotional health, intellectual achievement, and physical condition - all of which are tied to men's success in college.

A discussion about Clark's innovative model of higher education, LEEP™ (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) also was presented during the symposium.

Sprague received a bachelor's degree at Regis College and a master's degree in school counseling from the University of Southern Maine.

Past Clark University Guidance Symposia:

2013: Executive director of Colleges That Change Lives leads discussions about college choice

2012: Clark psychologist/author Jeffrey Arnett lends expert insights on Emerging Adults

Since its founding in 1887, Clark University in Worcester, Mass., has a history of challenging convention. As an innovative liberal arts college and research university, Clark's world-class faculty leads a community of creative thinkers and passionate doers and offers a range of expertise. Clark is nationally recognized in the areas of psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. Clark's students, faculty and alumni embody the Clark motto: Challenge convention. Change our world.