What do you think the chances are that a woman of age 28 with a phd could actually be attracted to and enjoy the company of a 24 year old male with a BS? I recently have found myself in this situation - me being the younger male. I hesitated at first wondering if she was actually attracted to me or if she was just playing games. I met her through some friends and we have been going out the past two weeks now. I know that I probably shouldn’t still be worrying about this but I can’t help but wonder if there is some sort of other motive that she has in her mind. What I don’t know. I’m probably just looney.
4 years is an “older” woman? My wife is 5 years my senior and a few jokes aside it isn’t a big deal. My father was 10 years my mother’s senior. If it was 10 years or more then maybe I’d wonder. But 4 years is nothing.
Marc
What answer are you expecting?
As a rule, I’ve found that people with PhD’s aren’t snobs,
and are as genuine, on average, as the rest of the
population.
Is there anything in particular making you wonder?
I guess that the answer that I’m hoping for is that this is not unusual. I don’t know guys who are married or dating older women. Looks like it does happen though as MGibson pointed out.
My mind is stuck in the paradigm that it is always the man who is older because women mature faster and therefore always seek out the older man. I guess I need to step out of the box.
Jump her bones. You’ll find out soon enough.
Neither the age nor the educational differences seem wide enough to cause a problem. As a friend once told me: “I’ve been doing it all wrong. Forget chasing coeds, make friends with the single professors.”
I’ve almost always dated older women. Anniz is older than me, and two years ago, I dated a PhD candidate (she got her PhD and became a professor during the time we dated).
It was great having sex with a doctor. 
I’ve never dated anyone before, but I think I would enjoy dating older women. I don’t know how common it is for a woman and a man 5 years or more her junior to date, but I certainly can’t see any problem with it.
My suggestion: Go for it. Or give me her number.
Nothing to worry about
I’ve always dated (and married) older women. From my first gf-3 years older, to my wife - 13 years older (nobody believes that btw).
When we met Mrs. Kunilou was 32 and I was 28. She was also better educated than me by two degrees. It’s worked out.
Of course, as she has pointed out over the years, she could have done better, but I make her laugh. Make sure you stay on top of your game or they’ll dump you.
Astro Hog
While there are exceptions to the rule, but by the time you’re out of college for a couple years, the men have usually caught up and people of both genders have reached the level of maturity they are gonna reach.
I’ve always had a twisted take on it.
[ul]
[li]I’m supposed to be seeking my “life” mate.[/li][li]According to US life expectency, women still live longer than men.[/li][li]Hi Opal (Hey, how old’s OpalCat again? Ooopps sorry got distracted, and besides she’s taken)[/li][li]I’d hate to die at my life expectency and leave a widow behind.[/li][li]If I settle on women about 10 years older than I am, it is statistcally simultanious.[/li][/ul]
-Doug
I’m 31 and date men of all ages, as long as they’re at least 21 and can buy the drinks once in a while.
My thinking is that this is more common than you may think. And, if she’s smart enough to have a PhD, then she’s probably intelligent enough to see you – and like you – for who you are, and probably gives a damn about the timing of your birth.
$0.02
Uh…as it happens, I am a 40 year old woman with a Ph.D. who is very attracted to a much younger man.
Trust me. It happens. And it can be pretty damn wonderful. Best of luck to you.
Yeah, Im with Mel Gibson, 4 years is nothing. I have always been non-age prejudiced, except where the law is concerned. So older or younger is fine with me. 4, 5, 14, 18 years older or younger is no biggie. Age is just a number. Why would I look at a woman & see just a number? Gotta see the woman for who she is & what she is.
After all, as Ann Landers said, “all women look the same in the bathtub”, & Albert said 'all cats are grey in the dark"
Ahh… Younger men…
Love 'em. The current SO is 7 years younger than me. The previous one was 9 years my junior. I’ve dated men older then me but they have to take a nap. Younger men can keep up.
Heh, arden!
My ex was 8 years older than me and aside from the few obligatory Cher jokes at the beginning, there was no issue.
Now I am looking for someone 8 years my junior to balance things out 
My stepfather is 3 months younger than I am. He and my mother have been together for 17 years, married for 8, and still going strong. Quit worrying about it !
I’d really like to know where this myth began. Girls might act a bit differently then boys but I don’t see how they mature any faster. I’ve seen to many girls make boneheaded decisions to think that they’re any more mature then boys.
Marc
Boys mature? I sure haven’t.
Anyway, don’t sweat the age difference. Four years may feel significant now, but it won’t pretty soon.
And to contribute some of my own data, my mom is 8 years older than my father. As for me, my girlfriends in college were all younger than me, but since college every woman I’ve gone out with has been older. I don’t think I was specifically looking for a certain age, but I wasn’t going to turn down someone just because our ages didn’t match.
–sublight.
I lost my virginity to a woman who was 14 years older than me, and have since been involved with a few women significantly older than me. My wife is older than me too, but only by a little more than a year.
I think the “myth” got started because many girls mature physically before boys do. You remember that point in junior high where many of the girls towered over many of the boys? In general, girls hit puberty earlier than boys do. Therefore, they are likely to get over that “the opposite sex is icky” stage at an earlier age as well.