Civil Rights Commission begins probe into discrimination against female applicants

Applying to College
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<p>*The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has started an inquiry into the extent to which liberal arts colleges discriminate against female applicants in an attempt to minimize gender imbalances in the student body. On Friday, the commission agreed on a set of colleges -- primarily in the Washington area -- to investigate, but declined to release a full list.</p>

<p>The issue is an extremely sensitive one for liberal arts colleges, many of which in recent years have worried about their gender ratios reaching points (60 percent female is commonly cited) where they face difficulty in attracting both male and female applicants. Generally private undergraduate colleges have the legal right to consider gender in admissions. They were specifically exempted from the admissions provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.</p>

<p>But despite that legal right, many at liberal arts colleges are uncomfortable about either the extent of admissions favoritism some colleges may engage in, or are embarrassed about it receiving public attention.* News:</a> Probe of Extra Help for Men - Inside Higher Ed</p>

<p>Although many of us here on CC are well aware of these “affirmative action” policies used by some colleges, I think there are many people out there who would be surprised about this.</p>

<p>The article goes on to explain how Title IX has backfired in a sense, leading colleges to use discrimination against females as their best option to keep gender balance.</p>

<p>"If a school seeks to make itself more attractive to men by adding more athletic opportunities for men, it must also make more athletic opportunities available to women essentially unless it can affirmatively show that added opportunities for women would not be taken advantage of. This makes it difficult. Since flat-out discrimination is a clear legal alternative, it is possible that what we are witnessing is Title IX 'backfire.' A law that was designed to prevent sex discrimination in higher education may be causing sex discrimination on account of the Department of Education’s emphasis on athletics in enforcement."</p>

<p>Ah, the law of unintended consequences at work.</p>

<p>Author Richard Whitmire points out that some feminists may not welcome this probe:</p>

<p>Any attention paid to the lopsided gender gaps in college — close to 58% of graduates of four-year colleges are women — drains credibility from their portrayal of women as a class in need of special help in the education system. See this piece I wrote for the Chronicle of Higher Education. Why</a> Boys Fail Blog Archive Seminal moment arrives in the ‘boy troubles’ debate</p>

<p>I would like this probe to help shed more light on the dismal failure of our public schools to prepare more male students for college. Our K-12 education system has many problems that need remediation, but I agree with those that point out that the “feminization” of our public schools is hurting boys disproportionately.</p>

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<p>I would also add that too many dads are willing to spend hours and hours coaching or watching their sons play sports, but give much less time or attention to their sons’ homework, studying habits, test results, or other academic-related issues. </p>

<p>So, is it a wonder that more boys treasure their athletic stats more than their academic ones? Their dads are “telling” them which is more important. Until THAT changes, we’ll get more of the same.</p>

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<p>^
And, of course, too many dads are just not present in their sons’ lives at all. However, the schools need to work with what they have, NOT what they wish they had. There is much in the pedagogy and curriculum that could be changed to help make schools a more successful experience not only for boys, but for all students.</p>

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<p>Here’s a related post.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/798055-male-female-lac-acceptance-rate-differentials.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/798055-male-female-lac-acceptance-rate-differentials.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>If you look at MIT’s acceptance rate, females have 4 times greater chance of getting in. If they want to look into this, then they should look into URM (race), first generation, geography, or any hooks they look at to get a well rounded, diversed student population.</p>

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<p>Beacuse I’m new to the process, I just learned of this issue. I had no idea that my white S would have an advantage at some schools! It will be interesting to see how many special interest groups react to this investigation. Thanks for keeping us informed.</p>

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<p>It’s a joke to suggest that it’s much of a factor that males don’t apply to certain schools because of the lack of sport programs offered due to Title IX. Obviously, many of these liberal arts schools are Division III where they don’t give any scholarships. Even some Division 1 schools are giving more scholarships to males then they did before Title IX, specifically the Patriot League. </p>

<p>If boys don’t want to study 20th Century Literature, art history or German literature deal with that reality because the lack of sports programs is a small ripple, not the tidal wave.</p>