Most “tech” schools are still Male dominant (or at least a lot closer to 50/50) comparing the Male/Female ratio from Tulane to other peers - I don’t see a dramatic difference but agree it’s approaching 2:1 and is that a general concern (?).
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Yes, I do think it’s a concern for the main reason that it will be bad for society if there are significantly more women then men who are educated. This was bad when the imbalance was the reverse. Also, I think it’s harmful academically and culturally on a co-ed campus if you want to be able to hear many viewpoints (and I’m a proud Newcomb alumna!!!). Finally, college is also about expanding your social circles and new personal experiences. If you’re a heterosexual or bi female - which the majority of Tulane students are at this point, there are fewer options. The NYT article had quotes from women at other schools saying that the gender imbalance at their schools was making the men cocky and entitled. I can see that.
I agree with most of your points - generally - but I also find it’s an issue in society when I can’t find a plumber or electrician or contractor - or insufficient recruits in the military (generally male dominated trades that mean those people aren’t going into a university).
So schools are vying for some % of a fixed pool of males - or any demographic for that matter - so should they compromise on their admissions criteria to enroll more men? Give more financial aid to males to lower cost of attendance for them? Start or enhance programs that are generally more male dominant (engineering, computer science)? Any increase in males they get to come to Tulane is at the expense/loss of some other school.
Not saying it’s not an issue, just thinking through what the solutions might look like.
Do you know if the ratio was markedly different during your years there and was it something you were conscious of or feel it impacted your experience? My understanding - which might be wrong - is that Tulane has heavily skewed Female for quite a while.
I just looked here, and when I was there back in the day, it was majority male. It did “feel” that way on campus, so being enrolled in Newcomb gave women some additional identity. You can see in these charts how it’s creeped up over time, but the latest numbers are really out of whack. Enrollment Profiles | Office of the University Registrar
The things you mention are exactly what’s going on to balance out classes at colleges around the country. This article was really eye-opening to me. ‘There Was Definitely a Thumb on the Scale to Get Boys’ - The New York Times
Interesting - thanks for the link. So in ~1980 it was pretty much the opposite that it is today. By 1990 they had balanced out to close to 50/50 and then a slow slide to where it is today.
I read the Time article when it came out. It’s still a zero sum game across schools though. The number of males going into higher ed is decreasing because they’re finding quite viable employment opportunities without spending $100-300K on an formal higher education (never mind the opportunity cost of 4 years of lost income). The solution might be to figure out how to get more women into the trades.
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Hello Tulane people! I am not from the area but I am looking at different universities to see what features people like about their colleges. Would anyone mind sharing what you love about Tulane and why you think it shouldn’t have fallen in these rankings?
I’ll start off by saying that I don’t really care about the ranking. All of the schools that moved on the ranking from last year to this year did so because USNWR changed the formula - not because the schools did something over the last year. If you look at the criteria that makes up the formula you can decide if that’s the criteria that matters to you and therefore if the ranking would be a good representation of how you might think about the schools listed.
Most of the people on this board are going to be parents and while we might have an opinion about what we love about Tulane we’re not the actual ones going there.
My S23 was looking for 5 year architecture programs and a school that would also support a side interest in music/band. When visiting and comparing the schools he got into it was evident that Tulane would be the best fit for him - best opportunity and support system for success, future job prospects, etc. You’ll read a lot on the boards here about making sure the “fit” is right. The criteria that makes up that fit is different for everyone.
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