Through the Glass Ceiling
The first in a three part series focusing on women’s role in higher education
With the increased presence of female students on college campuses, debate as to whether universities should actively recruit more males to decrease the gender gap has ensued. However, Boston University faculty and staff say the answer does not lie in what some call “male affirmative action.”
BU spokesman Colin Riley said the increase of women on college campuses is part of the overall trend of increased college attendance.
“If you go back 15 or 20 years,” he said, “about half of every high school graduating class went to college. There has been an increase because people are realizing that college is an investment, because studies show that people with more than a high school education have more lifetime earnings than a high school graduate.”
Women’s Studies Department Undergraduate Director Barbara Gottfried said the increase of female presence on campuses can be attributed to females’ desire to gain university validation.
“I think it’s because women feel the need to get credentials in order to get where they want,” she said. “So they’re doing it and they’re getting them.”
Journalism professor Caryl Rivers said by analyzing the statistics in a different manner, the ratio between males and females may not be as large.
“There are several things,” she said. “First of all, if you look at the entire population, the gap between men and women looks a lot bigger, but if we break it down to white men and women, the gap is not as large. It’s something like 48 to 51 percent.
“The bigger gap comes from looking at different groups,” Rivers continued, “particularly if you look at the ratio of black and Latino males and females attending college, the gap is a lot bigger. Among Asians, it’s not as big. So it isn’t all about gender, it’s also about race and class.”
Current debates bring up the idea of male affirmative action, however, Rivers said there needs to be more investigation into different groups of people.
“I think a lot of what we’re seeing now in the press about male discrimination and women occupying classrooms,” she said. “I think that a lot of those statistics, when you break the figures down, they’re not as big of a difference. It may not be about males, but there really needs to be an effort for black and Latino males because they are not seen as much.”
Although there has been public discussion among American universities about “male affirmative action,” Riley said BU does not use this practice.
“We do not look at gender,” he said. “We look at qualifications.”
Riley said the presence of different students on campus is not decided by the admissions office or the university, but rather the students’ decisions to enroll.
“We look at the students as a whole,” he said, “and ultimately, the decision to enroll is up to the student.”
In 2004-05 academic year, BU offered admission to 7,245 males and to 10,565 females, according to the Enrollment Planning and Retention Office.
Gottfried said affirmative action would not be an appropriate measure to change the ratio between males and females.
“Historically speaking,” she said, “affirmative action was offered to a group that had been disenfranchised or disadvantaged in some way. That’s why I feel it is inappropriate, because men are not a disenfranchised group.”
Gottfried said gender is not an appropriate ground for why fewer males are attending college.
“Generally speaking, I don’t think it’s an admissions issue,” she said, “but rather, we have to look at the reasons why males are not going to college.
“Nothing prevents them from applying,” Gottfried continued. “They are given the opportunity to apply. If men are not going to college as much, there are other reasons for it. No one is preventing them.”
