Women and College Admissions

Women and College Admissions February 23 There is an interesting editorial in Vox about gender disparity in college admissions that we thought wed share with our readers. There was recently a well argued editorial by Libby Nelson in Vox entitled Discrimination against women is a real problem in college admissions that we figured wed share with our loyal reader base. The piece focuses on how women with higher credentials than men are being turned down from colleges because these the admissions offices at these schools receive  fewer qualified male applicants and need to create gender parity at their institutions. In 2007, Henry Broaddus, the then dean of admissions at William Mary, stated that the university would continue to try to balance out the male-female ratio at the university because its the College of William Mary, not the College of Mary Mary. Broaddus almost immediately seemed to regret stating this on record, although he didnt take back the sentiment that the university would continue  to try to balance out the female-to-male  ratio being as its a co-educational school. We applauded Henry Broaddus at the time for his transparency a nd candor. According to the piece on female discrimination in admissions in Vox, Two generations ago, women were in the minority in higher education. Now theyre dominating it.  In 1960, women earned 35 percent of all bachelors degrees. They crossed the 50 percent mark in the late 1970s and just kept going.  Women now make up 59 percent of all college students. In 2011, they earned 62 percent of all associate degrees, 57 percent of all bachelors degrees, and 60 percent of all masters degrees. They now even earn the majority of doctorates — the last bastion of male domination in higher education.  Women are so dominant, in fact, that some colleges — particularly private colleges — overtly or covertly give men a boost in the admissions process. If youre hoping to be admitted to a prestigious private college that doesnt specialize in engineering, it helps to be male. And the most interesting point made in the piece? Its a poll by Inside Higher Ed conducted in 2014 that found that around 25% of directors of admissions surveyed stated on record that they support admitting less qualified men in the hope of fostering a gender balance at their universities. That, we believe, says it all. Curious to read more about the gender gap in highly selective college admissions? We encourage you to do so!