Women Outnumber Men In Oxford’s Newest Class

For the first time in a thousand years, women outnumber men in Oxfords’ newest class. According to data by the Universities and College Admissions Service 1070 women have been admitted to Oxford as compared to 1,025 men who have been admitted.

“It is a significant moment,” said Nick Hillman, a former government adviser and director of the Higher Education Policy Institute.

“And while it’s too early to call this a trend based on one year’s numbers, it is a welcome sign of progress for female applicants to Oxford,” said Oxford university.

As to why women have been underrepresented, academicians say it could be because of unconscious bias. Students are evaluated on grades and tests and are then interviewed by their prospective tutors who make final decisions. Perhaps, even though everyone thinks they are being fair, there is unconscious bias, that we choose people who look and think like us, said Hillman

At Oxford, women were allowed full membership only in 1920. Five of its all-male colleges admitted women in 1974, with all eventually admitting both women and men.

More women attending univs in the West

The gender gap in British education had been called a national scandal by the Higher Education Policy Institute in 2016. The only difference was that it was men who had started to lag behind some. The gender gap in education was overcome in the 1990s and 2000s in the United States and in Britain. By 2000, in Briatin, more than 133,000 women earned a first degree, the equivalent of a bachelor’s in the United States, as opposed to fewer than 110,000 men. By 2011, women had completed 197,565 first degrees, versus 153,235 men.

In the United States, women make up 56 per cent of college and university students.

Elite colleges are different

In the US, elite colleges have a different gender ratio. Harvard’s freshman class is less than 50 per cent female and Stanford’s is 51 per cent female.

College Admissions in India 

The number of women attending even elite schools in India is low. IITs had an average of 9 per cent women accepted to its schools. All IITs must now increase the number of admissions so that they have at least 14 per cent girls in every new batch starting from 2018.

Also Read: IITs To Up Seats, To Have 14% Female Students In New Admissions

Picture Credit: Slate