KANSAN.COM
NEWS
+
More women than men are enrolling as freshman at KU
New Freshman Enrolled at KU 2002-2014
EMILY HINES
@KansanNews
Total women
Total men
The night before the first day of the spring 2007 semester, David Guth, a professor of journalism, reviewed his class rosters and noticed something peculiar — all 26 students in his Strategic Campaigns class
were women.
Although there are typically only a handful of men in the Strategic Campaigns course every semester, he said he had never experienced anything
like this since he began teaching the course at the University in 1991.
"I wondered why this was the case," Guth said. "My wife said, 'It's because you're so cute,' and I told her that I don't think [enrollment] works that way."
Lisa Kress, director of admissions, said that while the University as a whole does not specifically recruit a certain
On average, about 133 more female students than male have enrolled as new freshmen each year over the past 13 years. However, the 52 percent female KU campus is lower than the national average; according to the American Council on Education, campuses across the U.S. are, on average, 57 percent female.
Guth's experience was unusual, but women have outnumbered men in all but one freshmen class since 2002, according to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning.
gender, there are departments and schools that do, such as the School of Engineering, which makes an effort to recruit women because its current student population is heavily male.
Despite women being, on average, 52 percent of total incoming freshmen classes, the University has a much closer male-to-female ratio compared with the rest of the nation's colleges, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
These trends in data from universities across the U.S. have sparked questions as to why more women than men are not only attending post-secondary schools, but why more women are accepted to these schools.
Why are women more likely to go to college?
Gender stereotypes play a major role in why women seem to be more likely to go to college than men, according to research by two sociologists.
In their book, "The Rise of
Women," Thomas DiPrete of Columbia University and Claudio Buchmann of Ohio State University say that, on average, girls exhibit better social and behavioral skills than boys and earn higher grades throughout school, increasing their chances of being accepted to college.
But those higher grades don't necessarily come from superior ability or intelligence, but rather attitude toward school. Girls are, on average, more inclined to admit they enjoy school and express their value of good grades, the authors said. Girls, they say, are more likely to engage in their studies while boys become less engaged and are less likely to be prepared for college.
Daniel Kindlon, a Harvard psychologist, suggests that boys could be falling behind in school because they have fewer male role models during their primary education.
Men may pursue higher ed-
ocation in fewer numbers because of the availability of blue-collar jobs in manufacturing and construction, which are typically marketed toward men. Those jobs generally don't require a college degree. Structural iron and steel workers earned a median salary of $46,140 in 2012, as reported by the U.S.Department of Labor. The labor department projects that, by 2022, employment in this industry will increase by 21.8 percent — approximately 31,500 additional job opportunities.
Guth has yet to encounter another all-female class since spring 2007, but he said he will never forget that class that expressed sincere kindness and compassion when his wife died in the middle of the semester.
"I started with 26 women in the class and ended with 26 daughters," Guth said.
— Edited by Dani Malakoff
TIMELINE FROM PAGE 2
President Zach George and Chief of Staff Adam Moon by Nov. 18 at 5 p.m. Tyler Childress, finance committee chair, presented a document detailing reasons for a vote of no confidence in their leadership.
Nov. 14: Pringle, George and Moon respond to the calls for resignation with a statement saying that they would publish a plan to address Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk's 15 demands early the next week.
"Black lives matter. Black lives matter at the University of Kansas," the statement reads.
Nov. 15: An online petition surfaces calling for Pringle, George and Moon to resign.
The petition reads in part: "The lack of meaningful action, advocacy, and respect in supporting black students and other students of color gravely
threatens the Senate's mission of maintaining strong connections with student body and KU community, and inhibits its ability to address and develop solutions to facing the student body, including black students and students of color."
Nov. 16: An online counter-petition surfaces calling for Pringle, George and Moon to stay in office and for senators to reject any impeachment measures.
That petition reads in part: "Change must occur through conversation, however difficult or ugly it is. If conversation does not change the environment on campus, change must occur through the democratic process in the spring elections. Forcing officials to resign because of a difference of opinion or difference on the process to achieve these goals, it sets a terrible precedent for future democratic processes. Although important to address the cultural inadequacies of our University, it is important to note that allowing a small group of people to dictate the policies of a university begins a dangerous precedent."
Nov. 16: Cowan ends his hunger strike after more than 70 hours without food. In a statement, he said he was ending it because it was gaining attention for the wrong reasons.
It is not my place to act without guidance of oppressed people," Cowan said in a statement. Nov. 16: Student Senate releases an 11-item action plan to address issues of diversity, discrimination and other issues. The first issue and subpoints refer to making Senate more inclusive.
"To achieve what a campus needs to be inclusive and support its students, it begins
with actions. The work to create a campus that recognizes its pitfalls, but yearning to be better, continues to exist. But, it adapts," the statement reads."To be better is a continual process of reevaluation. Student Senate, and the University of Kansas, must move forward and lead this conversation nationwide, and within our communities."
Nov. 17: Provost Jeffrey Vitter, in a campus-wide email, asserts that "the institution we are today is not the institution we strive to be, or need to be." "We are assembling a small advisory team of faculty, students, staff, and administrators. The group will deliver an action plan by mid-January that addresses challenges put forward by Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk, as well as concerns from others at the forum," he wrote in the email. "The action plan will
target retention and graduation rates of students, in addition to mandatory education, through facilitated sessions, on inclusion and belonging for all students, faculty, staff, and administrators and a plan for accountability.
Nov. 17: A screenshot circulating on social media purports to show a conversation between Black Student Union President Kynnedi Grant and University Senate Vice President Shegufta Huma. The conversation as it appeared in the screenshot shows Huma editing Grant's written account of a hate crime Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk releases a statement saying that the screenshots were fabricated.
The Kansan will update this timeline online at Kansan.com as this story develops.
COURTNEY VARNEY/
KANSAN
Quaram Robinson speaks at the town hall forum on race, respect and responsibility on Nov. 11.