Females now make up nearly 57 percent of all undergraduate college students in America, and St. Olaf is paralleling those national rates with women constituting 54.8 percent of the student body. The St. Olaf Board of Regents Student Committee recently did a study to find out what this ratio means, and how it affects the average Ole’s life.
To answer this question, BORSC talked to staff, faculty and students, studied recent trends and statistics from the college and even placed a white board in Fireside asking students, “What is it like to be male at St. Olaf?”
The report stated, “Interestingly, in reaction to the original query, someone added a new question on the other side of the white board asking, ‘What is it like to be female at St. Olaf?’ Responses to the prompts ranged from one-word answers such as ‘awesome’ to mini-essays about the sociology of sexuality. After a few days in Fireside, the entire board was covered in comments.”
One reason for the larger number of female students is that there are simply more women applying to the college. For the Class of 2013, there were 1656 male applicants to St. Olaf and 2226 female applicants, making up 42.6 percent and 57.4 percent of the applicant pool respectively. However, the male and female acceptance rates were roughly equal, with 57.6 percent of males and 57.3 percent of females being accepted. One possible explanation for the statistics is that male applicants to colleges are more likely to attend larger colleges and universities, especially those in larger cities. Women, on the other hand, indicate less of a preference for those characteristics.
The study showed that the average high school GPA of a female first year was 3.65, while the average male high school GPA was 3.45, suggesting that females are more academically motivated in high school. The SAT and ACT scores of the two genders was roughly the same. On average, however males scored higher in math, while women did better in writing. The reading comprehension section was about the same for both genders.
One area where the female-dominated gender difference is extremely notable is in St. Olaf’s study abroad programs. The report also demonstrated that males accounted for only 36.5 percent of the 808 total students who participated in off-campus study programs during the 2008-09 school year. While the exact explanation for this is unknown, an unpublished faculty report from 2001 cited participation in athletics or music as reasons students remained on campus.
In contrast to trends, there were more male athletes at St. Olaf in the 2007-08 school year, 373 male to 231 female. This statistic does not include intramurals, but the statistics are similarly proportioned there.
Another area where males are more visible on campus is in the Student Government Association (SGA). Associate Dean of Students Pamela McDowell noted in the BORSC report that males typically lean towards more visible roles on campus, such as SGA senators, while females tend to occupy roles that are more task-oriented and less visible, such as hall council. For the 2009-10 school year, the SGA Executive positions are occupied by 10 males and 8 females. The males do hold more visible positions such as SGA President, Political Awareness Committee Chair and the Board of Regents Student Committee Chair, with females occupying more “behind the scenes” roles such as SGA Vice President and Student Alumni Association Chair.
Statistics from the Dean of Students Office show that for the 2008-09 school year, 148 males were subject to some type of academic disciplinary action, compared to only 59 female. McDowell believes it may be because women are more likely to open up and share their struggles, whereas men are more likely to immerse themselves in other activities – such as video gaming or online networking.
BORSC set up a table in front of the cafeteria during dinner on a Sunday and Monday to survey students. The survey consisted of four short-answer questions, answered by 134 males and 167 females. When asked if students noticed a gender disparity on campus, a large majority responded “No.” In fact, only 35 percent of the females surveyed noticed the disparity on campus at all, and only five percent reported it was a problem. Of the males surveyed, 44 percent said they were aware of the male-female disparity on campus, but none of those surveyed responded it was a problem.
When asked, “Do male-female ratios affect your classroom experience?,” 38 percent of the 167 female respondents answered that it did, while only 17 percent of the 134 male responded yes, citing that the conversation naturally takes on more of a feminist view when the class is more females.
“54 percent female is barely over half, and I have hardly noticed it. I actually think that there is a surprisingly large amount of boys at St Olaf because St Olaf is a liberal arts school--there is not an engineering or business program here,” said Madeline Horan ’12.
“The committee…feels that the disparity in study abroad programs as well as the number of students on academic probation is alarming,” the BORSC report said. “The centrality of these two areas lends a great deal of urgency to the gender disparity within them, and BORSC urges all aspects of the college…to begin addressing them as soon as possible.”
There are no immediate plans to address the issue.
skaggs@stolaf.edu
Gender gap in activities and academics
BORSC report recommends addressing disparity
Published: Thursday, October 15, 2009
Updated: Thursday, October 15, 2009 17:10
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