Spring Break
Women up in education, but still seek equity
CSU rich in women's rights history
Jessi Stafford
Issue date: 5/7/07 Section: News
Throughout the history of higher education in the U.S. there has been an overlying theme of male dominance. Universities and colleges began as institutions specifically for men to study, earn diplomas and enter into the job force.
Yet, studies from recent years have shown that the number of females in higher education is rising to meet the number of males. And in the past five years, the number of women has exceeded that of men.
CSU is one university that reflects this trend. In fact, 52 percent of the students who were enrolled in the 2006-2007 school year were women, according to the CSU Fact Book.
In the 2006-2007 school year, 72 percent of the students enrolled in veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences were women, which is a giant leap from CSU's roots.
Although females are beginning to saturate the classroom, the uphill climb toward equalizing the gender gap has not necessarily been easy.
Laying the groundwork
Dr. Robert Shideler attended CSU when veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences was only beginning to blossom into the high-ranked program it would later become. He graduated in 1948, when the university was still called Colorado A&M College. The year he graduated, only one-fifth of the total students were women, according to CSU enrollment statistics.
One woman was in veterinary medicine.
"The student population ratio of men to women in my day was 10 percent women and 90 percent men," Dr. Shideler said. "Now it's the reverse of that."
The change, as far as veterinary medicine is concerned, is a direct result of the gender ratio of who is applying, Shideler said.
"The application pool is mostly women," he said of today's enrollment. "That doesn't really say anything about either gender, it's just the way it is."
Nicolas Booth, a veterinary medicine graduate of the 1951 class, saw similar circumstances during his time at CSU, but he did see an increase in female enrollment.
Yet, studies from recent years have shown that the number of females in higher education is rising to meet the number of males. And in the past five years, the number of women has exceeded that of men.
CSU is one university that reflects this trend. In fact, 52 percent of the students who were enrolled in the 2006-2007 school year were women, according to the CSU Fact Book.
In the 2006-2007 school year, 72 percent of the students enrolled in veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences were women, which is a giant leap from CSU's roots.
Although females are beginning to saturate the classroom, the uphill climb toward equalizing the gender gap has not necessarily been easy.
Laying the groundwork
Dr. Robert Shideler attended CSU when veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences was only beginning to blossom into the high-ranked program it would later become. He graduated in 1948, when the university was still called Colorado A&M College. The year he graduated, only one-fifth of the total students were women, according to CSU enrollment statistics.
One woman was in veterinary medicine.
"The student population ratio of men to women in my day was 10 percent women and 90 percent men," Dr. Shideler said. "Now it's the reverse of that."
The change, as far as veterinary medicine is concerned, is a direct result of the gender ratio of who is applying, Shideler said.
"The application pool is mostly women," he said of today's enrollment. "That doesn't really say anything about either gender, it's just the way it is."
Nicolas Booth, a veterinary medicine graduate of the 1951 class, saw similar circumstances during his time at CSU, but he did see an increase in female enrollment.
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