Women in Higher Ed.: Too Many or Not Enough?

Today I came across two interesting articles about women and higher education. The first story was published in the NYTimes. An admissions officer shares her frustration with the unintended consequences of women's liberation -- women’s increased interest (and achievement) is creating a much higher university standard for women than for men. Apparently campuses are concerned with preserving “gender equity.” As a result, many well qualified girls are being placed on the waitlist while boys with comparable grades and achievement are accepted. Just minutes after I read this article, I stumbled across an article in the National Journal about the need to increase women's pursuit of math and science degrees. In fact, Bush Administration officials are considering how they might extend Title IX law (aimed at college athletic programs) to improve gender equity in research university science departments. Although women’s pursuit of science degrees has increased, men still lead in computer science and engineering by 3-to-1 and 4-to-1, respectively.