PSU Future Admissions for Graduate Education

Enrollment ratios of female-to-male students and college and disciplinary segregation of male and female students are important issues for the future of higher education and the status of women in the labor market and broader society. The tables below show future admissions for various Penn State Colleges across all campuses (including World Campus). Summer 2010 through Fall 2015 numbers are summed together, with the bulk of future admissions being for Fall 2010. Table 1, directly below, displays those colleges that have less than 50% female future admissions for graduate education. These are colleges that have historically been known to have lower female-to-male student ratios, such as Engineering and IST (Morris and Daniel 2008).

From CfW Assessment Committee

Table 2 shows colleges with greater than 50% female future admissions for graduate education. The College of Nursing has the highest future admission of female students at 88%. Education, Non-degree, and Health & Human Development all have future admission rates of female students at greater than 70%. Many of the colleges with higher percent female future admissions are also those colleges that have historically had higher female concentration, especially education and nursing, which Lackland and DeLisi (2001) referred to as “helping professions.”

From CfW Assessment Committee

Overall, the trends for future enrollment—in 2010 and beyond—suggest that certain colleges remain relatively stratified by gender. This is particularly salient at the level of graduate studies, because these students may move into academic positions and become instructors, professors, and mentors for future undergraduate and graduate students. Same-sex role models are shown to be important in students’ psychosocial experiences of higher education (Schroeder and Mynatt 2004) and gender composition of departments may influence the mentoring structure available to students (Dua 2008). Gender stratification by college of study remains an important issue for institutions of higher education to better understand in order to provide both male and female students with adequate educational resources and support.

References
Dua, P. 2008. “The Impact of Gender Characteristics on Mentoring in Graduate Departments of Sociology.” The American Sociologist, 39(4): 307-23.
Lackland, A. C., & R. De Lisi. 2001. “Students’ Choices of College Majors that are Gender Traditional and Nontraditional.” Journal of College Student Development, 42: 39-48.
Morris, L.K., & L.G. Daniel. 2008. “Perceptions of a Chilly Climate: Differences in Traditional and Non-traditional Majors for Women.” Research in Higher Education, 49: 256-73.
Schroeder, D.S., & C.R. Mynatt. 2004. “Graduate Students' Relationships with Their Male and Female Major Professors.” Sex Roles, 40(5-6): 393-420.

April 22, 2010, meeting of the Assessment Committee

Participants (one on Adobe Connect!) discussed data on student counts, for the VOICES conference, graduate student admissions, action items for meeting with President Spanier, and listing of members on this blog.

4th Annual Commission for Women Awards Ceremony -- April 15, 2010