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ERIC Number: EJ697403
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Dec
Pages: 11
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0272-7757
EISSN: N/A
Gender Imbalance in College Applications: Does It Lead to a Preference for Men in the Admissions Process?
Baum, S.; Goodstein, E.
Economics of Education Review, v24 n6 p665-675 Dec 2005
Using data from 13 liberal arts colleges, we test for a preference for men in the college admissions process. We find that gender does matter, but in a complex way. Men do appear to be given preference as college applicant pools become more female. Consistent with this pattern, we find clear evidence of a preference for men in historically female colleges-which have the highest percent female applicant pools. Being a male applicant raises the probability of acceptance at these schools by between 6.5 and 9 percentage points. We find no significant male preference in historically co-educational or historically male colleges despite the fact that their applicant pools are more than 50% female. We also find that the bottom quartile of both the applicant and acceptance pools, as measured by high school academic record, is disproportionately male. As a result, even with a gender-blind admissions policy, the lower tail of college classrooms is likely to be dominated by men.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A