My junior daughter has been compiling her college list, and after research and campus visits, we discovered that one of the factors we have not considered is the female/male ratio of students. It is 60+/40- at a few of the schools, and one of them is 65/35 for the most recent freshman class according the CDS. We are aware there are more females in college, but is this something we should be considering throughout this process? Does the disparity create any issues socially or academically? Just trying to determine if this is something we should think about or simply ignore. TIA
I am about to go pop the popcorn to enjoy while the replies rain down! but sliding in here quietly to say 1) there simply are more women in college than men; 2) experience of the collegekids has been that 60:40 doesn’t seem to be an issue; 3) what matters most is how much it matters to your particular student and 4) there are schools that are work very hard to be nearly 50:50 (which sometimes leads to complaints of admissions unfairness by the over-represented gender).
My opinion? choose the schools that suit best on all the other factors, and then see how the balance at those specific schools seems to your daughter.
(edited to neutralize a point)
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Huh? If the college is trying to keep its ratio 50F/50M instead of 59F/41M, that would suggest that an “affirmative action thumb on the scale” is favoring male applicants. Unless, of course, you are referring specifically to colleges that are mostly in male-heavy majors (engineering, CS, etc.) or admission by division or major to male-heavy majors.
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Uh oh - I didn’t realize that this might be a controversial topic. I don’t anticipate it being an issue for my daughter but was just curious if there were any experiences out there that we hadn’t considered. Will happily delete if this is inappropriate.
When you break down the ratio by major, the numbers can look quite different. So the experience in a program might feel a lot different than a 60-40 overall ratio might suggest.
Personally, my D22 didn’t use ratio as a deciding factor, but did look at it. We had some concern that it might make more difference at a smaller school where there are fewer students to begin with — she wanted to be sure she could find plenty of her people, men and women.
The school she chose happens to be very balanced, but it was her favorite before she knew that.
Note that colleges with considerably more women than men tends to have increased hookup culture when compared to schools that are more balanced.
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Here is what the OP asked:
The OP did not ask if colleges should have a 50/50 (or any other percentage split). So please do not turn this into a straw man argument.
good point, @ucbalumnus - edited the original point
Having a very balanced ratio of men to women is typically a privilege of the most elite schools.
There are more women in college. In general, colleges are a bit more forgiving of men than women when it comes to grades, and being male can be an advantage at some colleges. Most coed colleges would prefer an even balance, but many don’t have the luxury of that.
If your child only recently considered this, I would say it doesn’t matter.
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This is where the maco vs micro views come into play. At the macro level, it may be “out of balance “. However at the micro level, how it actually impacts her, it may not be an issue. Unless the macro is really lopsided, I think it is really hard to know how it is going to impact your micro view.
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The micro view may also differ depending on one’s major, if one ends up interacting mostly with students in the major as a junior or senior. A psychology major and a mechanical engineering major will likely see different in-major micro views of gender ratios.
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It depends on many factors. For example, I attended a college that had a 50/50 female/male, ratio listed in the CDS, but at the time my EE major had a ~10/90 female/male ratio. I expect that some of ~10% of women within the major faced challenges related to having few persons of the same gender in their classes, group projects, almost all TAs + professors being male, mansplaining, being ignored, … This likely contributes to why some colleges with extreme gender ratios have a high rate of women dropping out of engineering, after controlling for academic criteria.
However, I expect there are also plenty of persons who would have no problem with being an extreme gender imbalance situation. For example, I had a male friend who went to nursing school, and he certainly had no complaints about being the gender minority. He seemed quite pleased with the gender imbalance from a social perspective. It’s my understanding he also had no problems with academics, group work, and later career.
In my EE classes, I was in the 90% gender majority, rather than the 10% gender minority. Being in the gender majority was not a problem for me. I observed the gender imbalance, but otherwise didn’t give it much thought. I expect it had little impact on my performance within the major. The overall gender balance across the full college was 50/50, so dorms and social events had a more balanced gender ratio. I expect some students would find a gender imbalance in the dorms and social events problematic. Others would not. It’s difficult to generalize.
Some highly selective colleges with notable gender imbalance, as listed in IPEDS are below.
High % Women
1 . Barnard – 100% Women
2. Wellesley – 99% Women
3. Emory – 60% Women
4. UNC: CH – 60% Women
5. Tulane – 59% Women
High % Men
1 . Webb – 23% Women
2. USMA – 23% Women
3. USNA – 28% Women
4. USAFA – 28% Women
5. Georgia Tech – 39% Women
Some majors with notable gender imbalance, as listed in NCES are below (only included majors with >10,000 degree recipients)
High % Women
1 . Early Childhood Education – 96% Women
2. Elementary Education – 92% Women
3. Social Work – 88% Women
4. Development/Child Psychology – 88% Women
5. Nursing – 87% Women
High % Men
1 . Engineering Technologies – 13% Women
2. Electrical Engineering – 15% Women
3. Mechanical Engineering – 15% Women
4. Computer Science – 19% Women
5. Information Technology – 20% Women
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This is a question that only you and your D can answer. When I was young man, going to a school where there were only 40% women would’ve been an absolute non starter. Remember, that gender imbalance(20% in this case) is multiplied by 4, assuming an undergrad population only.
There is a book out there called Dateonomics by Jon Birger, which examines the gender disparity in post secondary education. I highly recommend giving it a read. I found it eye opening.
As an opinion, gender imbalances of greater than 60/40 can cause uneven social relationships and may represent an aspect worth consideration when selecting a college.
Disparate rates of acceptance for females compared to males may not be ideal either. A difference of under three percentage points (at least for highly selective colleges) might represent a desirable figure to seek. IPEDS can be used as a convenient source for this (e.g., College Navigator - Amherst College).
However, a student may benefit from compromising on one or both of these aspects for schools that are generally appealing.
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So for the full undergraduate body it will be 80%, or how does that math work out?
Yes, a very personal matter.
Some people weigh the dating potential as critical, for others ANY social potential suffices — for those, easily forming friend circles is key, not the makeup.
For someone academically focused, avoiding dating drama might be welcome.
Urban vs. rural location might also serve to smooth over any effect.
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Edit. Fixing my brain fart.
Put simply when there’s more girls, the dudes, they are looking to hook up, not date…at least that’s what I’ve read.
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I think it’s the other way 
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Read the paragraph on Sarah Lawrence.
I had a girlfriend my last three years. Her family treated me as if I was part. That part was great.
Can’t get that by rotating relationships.
For OP, it’s an article, who knows if it’s true and everyone values casualness differently but perhaps that’s the kind of info you were seeking.
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The article you linked says the opposite of what you wrote.
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I also read the article. The thought is that if there are many girls and few guys, the guys are in demand, and don’t feel compelled to commit. So they want to hookup than date.
You mentioned that if there are more guys, they want to do hookups. The article makes the opposite case.
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