US agency probes possible gender bias at colleges

**frostyboy** · 18th-December-2009

From The Associated Press:

US agency probes possible gender bias at colleges

A federal civil rights agency investigating possible gender
discrimination in college admissions will subpoena data from
more than a dozen mid-Atlantic universities, officials said
Thursday.

The probe by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is focusing on
whether some colleges favor men by admitting them at higher
rates than women, or by offering them more generous aid
packages.

Commission members voted Wednesday to authorize subpoenas
for 19 universities within a 100-mile radius of their meeting place — in this case, Washington — which is the geographical extent of their subpoena authority.

The schools represent a mixture of sizes and include public, private, religious, secular, historically black and moderately selective to highly selective institutions. There are six in Maryland, five in Pennsylvania, three in Washington, two each in Virginia and Delaware, and one in West Virginia.

Women outnumber men nearly 60 percent to 40 percent in higher education nationally. The probe grew out of anecdotal evidence and news accounts that admissions officials are discriminating against women to promote a more even gender mix, said commission spokeswoman Lenore Ostrowsky.

Spokespeople for several schools on the list declined comment Thursday since they had not received the subpoenas.

Statistics from a few colleges on the list reveal varying percentages of men and women on campus.

Gettysburg College in central Pennsylvania, a highly selective liberal arts school, reports virtually an even gender split this year in its student body: 1,345 men and 1,338 women, according to its Web site.

The college's ratio slightly favored women in each of the previous four years, with about 1,400 women and 1,200 men, the statistics show.

Barbara Fritze, vice president for enrollment and educational services at Gettysburg, said the college will cooperate with the inquiry but stressed that it has not been the subject of a complaint.

Data from last year at Georgetown University, a private, highly selective Catholic school in Washington, show a split of 54 percent women and 46 men in its population of about 7,100 undergraduate students. However, its graduate programs in business, law and medicine have more men.

The public University of Delaware reports undergraduate enrollment of 58 percent women and 42 percent men in each year from 2004-2008, according to its Web site.

Ostrowsky said if all schools cooperate and comply swiftly with the subpoenas, the agency could have a report out in six months. But some schools may not be able to produce the data quickly, even though it has likely been gathered already in one form or another for their own use, she said.

She would not specify what the subpoenas will request.

If the commission's findings are "startling," the agency could seek a wider sampling of data by meeting in a new location, thus changing the 100-mile radius of its subpoena authority, she said. Or the agency could simply ask schools to volunteer the information, Ostrowsky said.

Federal Title IX legislation, meant to promote gender equity, does not apply to admissions because lawmakers wanted to ensure the existence of women's colleges, she noted.

The subpoenaed colleges are: Howard University, Lincoln University, Virginia Union University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, all historically black; Catholic University in Washington D.C., Loyola University in Maryland and Messiah College in Pennsylvania, all religious; Georgetown, Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg, all "highly selective"; the University of Richmond, considered "very selective"; York College in Pennsylvania, Goucher College in Baltimore, Goldey-Beacom College in Delaware and Washington College in Chestertown, Md., all private and "moderately selective"; and Shepherd University in West Virginia, Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, the University of Delaware and the University of Maryland Baltimore County, all public and "moderately selective."

**Marx** · 18th-December-2009

Erm. How come no one minded when academics put AA into action to get women into their colleges & Unis?

Oh.. yeah.. I see now.

Same old story.

If something benefits women = good / if same thing benefits men = bad.

**Incognito** · 18th-December-2009

Quote from Marx

Erm. How come no one minded when academics put AA into action to get women into their colleges & Unis?

Oh.. yeah.. I see now.

Same old story.

If something benefits women = good / if same thing benefits men = bad.

Yes, well, the propaganda was just that good back then, wasn't it? People bought it, women like me and men like you, bought it. People bought it because they bought the idea that women, once upon a time, really were discriminated against. The seeds were planted long before the 80's and the 90's. Flash forward a couple of decades and an amazing thing is happening...people are starting to get wiser. Not wise enough, mind you- the bullshit still sells...but not quite with as much success as it did back then. It's a slightly different package now, with different wrapping, but it's still propaganda.

**Aug9th-LiveOrDie** · 18th-December-2009

fuck college
go to technical school

**johnkimble1** · 18th-December-2009

Don't really have a problem with this. I'm always against positive discrimination - don't care who who thit "benefits" and who the victims are it's wrong every single time.

Would be interesting to see the results of the male students compared to the females, assumign they are as successful then this suggests they were severely failed by the school system. There's no use hiding the fact the school system fails males - IQ tests show a much wider distribution fo scores for men compared to women, thus in a fiar society you'd have men vastly outnumbering women at the best institutions, and significantly outnumbering them at good universities.

Similarly at mediocre institutions you'd expect huge numbers of female students, and at the bottom end of the scale - (i.e. dropouts and those not getting through school) you'd expect far more males.

**Celtic Druid** · 18th-December-2009

Women outnumber men nearly 60 percent to 40 percent in higher education nationally. The probe grew out of anecdotal evidence and news accounts that admissions officials are discriminating against women to promote a more even gender mix, said commission spokeswoman Lenore Ostrowsky.

Governments won't act when empirical evidence proves males are (deliberately) disadvantaged in academia, yet the US agency swings promptly into action when mere casual observation, and no doubt biased media elements creating conjecture that women 'might' be subject to some bias.

When men accounted for the majority of students was there ever any similar probe enacted when concerted efforts were made to bring about parity in student enrollment?

It's truly unbelievable how even when women account for 60 percent of students - they're still whining like spoilt greedy children.

**Incognito** · 18th-December-2009

How exactly, specifically are men disadvantaged?

**RebelliousVanilla** · 18th-December-2009

Quote from johnkimble1

Don't really have a problem with this. I'm always against positive discrimination - don't care who who thit "benefits" and who the victims are it's wrong every single time.

Would be interesting to see the results of the male students compared to the females, assumign they are as successful then this suggests they were severely failed by the school system. There's no use hiding the fact the school system fails males - IQ tests show a much wider distribution fo scores for men compared to women, thus in a fiar society you'd have men vastly outnumbering women at the best institutions, and significantly outnumbering them at good universities.

Similarly at mediocre institutions you'd expect huge numbers of female students, and at the bottom end of the scale - (i.e. dropouts and those not getting through school) you'd expect far more males.

Same with race and IQ. lol

**Celtic Druid** · 18th-December-2009

Quote from Incognito

How exactly, specifically are men disadvantaged?

Well, the obvious one arises before they can get through the door - the disproportionate rates of male vs female students.

The curriculum itself has been totally overhauled to maximise female results at the detriment of every male student.

A total lack of representation for men within campus such as the emerging men's groups in a few English universities.

Another would be being subject to a culture of institutionalized intimidation and demonization (second-class citizens) through the incorporation of feminism into every subject, which not only blatantly favours females, but punishes males who don't submit to the ubiquitous indoctrination (marking down scores and grades for dissent). Ideology taking precedent over a 'grounded' education!

Isn't the curtailment of freedom of speech the most serious kind of disadvantage a free person can endure?

**johnkimble1** · 18th-December-2009

Quote from Incognito

How exactly, specifically are men disadvantaged?

The main way men are disadvantaged is in the school system itself. A lack of male teachers, valuing opinions over facts, punishing/chastising boys but not girls (just as with the legal system), introducing trivial and nonsensical subjects (media studies etc) and giving them the same weighting as genuine subjects where boys excel (maths, science etc), permanent emphasis on young children sitting down and being good rather than letting boys be energetic, adventurous and creative. The net result of this is boys getting worse results and thus not being admitted into university.

There are of course countless problems in the universities themselves as other have highlighted and they are incredibly sexist and hateful places. However, even thought they're a worse environment for a male than schools, this is negated by the fact that students are of course adults and thus more able to sense and overcome the oppression, and less likely to be influenced and damaged by the hate.

What should be highlighted is of course the fact we even still have colleges at some of the most respected institutions which refuse to admit male students. I've read up on this quite a bit, there's several of them left at Cambridge and one even goes the extra mile in banning not only male students, but male staff too!