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March 23, 2006
Gender Imbalance in Higher Ed
What Jennifer Delahunty Britz describes in her column in today's New York Times about higher standards for female college applicants than male ones is, of course, affirmative action for men, although she doesn't use the term. The fact that she “apologize[s]” to women “for the demographic realities” implies that there is injustice in this. If the reason for higher numbers of women attending and graduating from college is that men have greater job opportunities than women without a college degree and for this or some other reasons are electing not to attend college, she is clearly she is right. It's unfair. If, on the other hand, our schools are failing to prepare men for college at the same rate as women, than, following the logics of other affirmative actions, is the bias in admissions justified? I would still argue that it is not, and agree with Britz, unless there is either proof of historic and ongoing discrimination or bias in admission criteria that undervalues important skills that male applicants might have in greater abundance. I find this unlikely. Should high schools examine possible failings in preparing boys for college? Absolutely.
Posted by johnn at March 23, 2006 10:18 AM
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