Multiple studies have concluded that males indulge in more frequent and higher consumption of alcohol than females while in college. In early studies from the 1960s, this difference was attributed to the notion that the abuse of alcohol was a male's prerogative, according to researchers Dr. Ruth Engs and David Hanson. Other studies suggested that drinking helped differentiate the sexes, and that since women were traditionally subordinate to men they drank less. Later studies from the 1970s did little to eliminate the sexist attitudes from these gender studies. An increase in female drinkers in a 1978 study was attributed to the womens' movement, and that women had become more exposed to masculine environments.
By the 1980s, much of the double standard applied to alcohol use among the different sexes had began to disappear in research. More studies began to find that a smaller discrepancy existed between the number of female and male drinkers than previously thought. A 1985 study by Dr. H. Wesley Perkins found a significant narrowing between male and female college students in the frequency and volume of alcohol consumed. While the gap had narrowed, males continued to experience more problems due to drinking, and exhibited different attitudes about drinking than did females.
Most research on the negative consequences associated with drinking has found males more likely to suffer serious consequences than females. Male students are involved in more public disturbances and violent encounters with others while drinking than females. In a 1992 study, Dr. Perkins found that males students were three time more likely to cause property damage or have an encounter with law enforcement and twice as likely to physically injure someone due to drinking than females. However, only slight gender differences existed when examining the detrimental effect of drinking on academic performance and unintended sexual activity.
Recent studies have found that female students have begun consuming more alcohol in comparison to males. In a study released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University indicated a 16 percent increase in the number of college students who admitted to frequently binge drinking between 1995 and 2005. Binge drinking among females increased 22 percent, nearly double that of males, during this same period, and 37 percent of females surveyed admitted to drinking on 10 or more occasions over the previous month.