Across the country, liberal arts colleges are reporting that they receive more applications from women than from men. Yet, due to an effort to stabilize gender ratios at about one-to-one, women are statistically more likely to be rejected from Wesleyan and other schools of similar caliber.
Although women have made enormous headway since the onset of the women’s rights movement, they still face discrimination in the workplace, both in hiring practices and in salary negotiations. If qualified women get rejected from Wesleyan and have to attend a less prestigious school as a result, they will be at a greater disadvantage than a similarly qualified male in the same position.
On the other hand, we appreciate having an equal, or close to equal, gender ratio. This is, after all, roughly the same gender ratio we’re likely to find in other situations in life, and it is more diverse than a student population of predominantly one gender. Prefrosh also recognize that gender ratios may have an effect on the social scene of a campus. To be sure, many of Wesleyan’s current students were attracted to the school for its balanced gender ratio, among other things.
That women are more likely than men to be rejected from Wesleyan is a bit disconcerting though, because according to some standards, they might, on the whole, be more qualified than men. Although Wesleyan’s male applicants tend to have slightly higher SAT scores, its female applicants tend to have slightly higher GPAs. Admitting more women might disrupt the balanced gender ratio, but it might ensure that more qualified candidates are accepted to Wesleyan.
All that being said, the gender gap isn’t getting smaller. It’s growing. If women continue to outnumber men in the application pool, schools across the country must consider making a commitment to representing current demographics. Men have now become the minority, creating a complex dilemma between maintaining a balanced gender ratio and accurately representing a University’s application pool.
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