Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
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Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
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Re: Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
#2> Gender gaps are nothing new, but they are problematic for colleges because they can be taken to suggest women are seeking higher education, while men are not. They can also cause awkward social environments on campuses and, if they get wide enough, may discourage men from applying.
Advertising the gap is probably a great way to increase the number of male applicants.
Re: Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
#3> Gender gaps are nothing new, but they are problematic for colleges because they can be taken to suggest women are seeking higher education, while men are not. They can also cause awkward social environments on campuses and, if they get wide enough, may discourage men from applying. Advertising the gap is probably a great way to increase the number of male applicants.
I was about to say the same thing. Most young men are interested in sex, and a 2:1 gender ratio is likely to mean that unless they're deformed or have zero social skills, they'll get plenty.
Re: Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
#4"This potential stigma has caused federal concern about admissions processes. In November the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights began an inquiry into discrimination against female applicants at liberal arts colleges"
So when there weren't enough women in college, it was because of discrimination against women. And when there's too many women in college, it's also because of discrimination against women.
Re: Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
#5"This potential stigma has caused federal concern about admissions processes. In November the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights began an inquiry into discrimination against female applicants at liberal arts colleges" So when there weren't enough women in college, it was because of discrimination against women. And when there's too many women in college, it's also because of discrimination against women.
I believe the inquiry was to determine whether discrimination against female applicants was starting to happen as a way to redress the male/female imbalance.
Re: Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
#6> Gender gaps are nothing new, but they are problematic for colleges because they can be taken to suggest women are seeking higher education, while men are not. They can also cause awkward social environments on campuses and, if they get wide enough, may discourage men from applying. Advertising the gap is probably a great way to increase the number of male applicants.
I was about to say the same thing. Most young men are interested in sex, and a 2:1 gender ratio is likely to mean that unless they're deformed or have zero social skills, they'll get plenty.
This is a very alien worldview to me. Being curious or "hormonally charged" seems normal, but people seriously looking to have sex in college seem to be in the minority. Otherwise, there would be an orgy every weekend, right? Anyway, advertising the sexuality of the women on campus to attract more men frankly makes me feel sick.
Re: Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
#7> Gender gaps are nothing new, but they are problematic for colleges because they can be taken to suggest women are seeking higher education, while men are not. They can also cause awkward social environments on campuses and, if they get wide enough, may discourage men from applying. Advertising the gap is probably a great way to increase the number of male applicants.
I was about to say the same thing. Most young men are interested in sex, and a 2:1 gender ratio is likely to mean that unless they're deformed or have zero social skills, they'll get plenty.
Not everyone would agree with your conclusion.
>Jayne Dallas, a senior studying advertising who was seated across the table, grumbled that the population of male undergraduates was even smaller when you looked at it as a dating pool. “Out of that 40 percent, there are maybe 20 percent that we would consider, and out of those 20, 10 have girlfriends, so all the girls are fighting over that other 10 percent,” she said.
Source: http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/colleges-where...
Re: Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was about to say the same thing. Most young men are interested in sex, and a 2:1 gender ratio is likely to mean that unless they're deformed or have zero social skills, they'll get plenty.
Not everyone would agree with your conclusion. >Jayne Dallas, a senior studying advertising who was seated across the table, grumbled that the population of male undergraduates was even smaller when you looked at it as a dating pool. “Out of that 40 percent, there are maybe 20 percent that we would consider, and out of those 20, 10 have girlfriends, so all the girls are fighting over that other 10 percent,” she said.…
Discard half your options out of the gate and you get the scarcity you deserve, IMO.
Re: Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
#9It would be interesting to know the male-to-female ratio in trade schools and apprenticeships. One of the reasons (white) males apply to college in lower numbers is that they have the easiest access to the good jobs that don't require a degree. You won't see many women working as oilfield roughnecks, plumbers, or truck drivers. Without a degree, women tend to be trapped in low-end service and clerical jobs.
Re: Worries Over a 2-to-1 Ratio: Where the Boys Aren't
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was about to say the same thing. Most young men are interested in sex, and a 2:1 gender ratio is likely to mean that unless they're deformed or have zero social skills, they'll get plenty.
This is a very alien worldview to me. Being curious or "hormonally charged" seems normal, but people seriously looking to have sex in college seem to be in the minority. Otherwise, there would be an orgy every weekend, right? Anyway, advertising the sexuality of the women on campus to attract more men frankly makes me feel sick.
"Being curious or "hormonally charged" seems normal, but people seriously looking to have sex in college seem to be in the minority. Otherwise, there would be an orgy every weekend, right?"
If you replace "people" with "men," the answer is probably yes. Men on average tend to seek out far more sexual partners than women do; I remember one study that had attractive, opposite-sex college students approach other students and offer to sleep with them. 75% of males approached said yes; 0 females did. I think the study is discussed in Dan Ariely's _Predictably Irrational_. As Roy Baumeister points out in his book _What Are Men Good For_, famous men often sleep with many, many random young women, and appreciate it when young women offer them sex; famous women seldom do the same.
As for women, they are the sex that has to invest more in offspring; in virtually every species studied, the choosier sex is the one that has to invest more; see, for example, Robert Trivers' famous work, or Geoffrey Miller in _The Mating Mind_:
"As David Buss has emphasized, human sex differences are most apparent in short-term mating. Men are motivated to have short-term sexual flings with multiple partners than women are. Women are much choosier than men in the short term. Short-term mating is exciting and sexy, but it is not necessarily where sexual selection has the greatest effect" (95).
"Human males are generally not as choosy about short-term affairs as females. There is very little opportunity cost to short-term mating for men. It does not exclude other sexual options. But men get much choosier about medium- and long-term relationships, because their opportunity costs increase dramatically. If they are in a sexual relationship with one woman, it is very difficult to sustain a sexual relationship with another woman. They cannot give both their full attention. They must make choices—sexual choices" (95).
Note: this doesn't mean women aren't very sexual. They are. See, for example, Randy Thornhill's _The Evolution of Human Female Sexuality_. But they don't tend to seek out as many random encounters or as many concurrent, unknown partners as men do. Most sexually mature women are "seriously looking to have sex" because they like it as much or more as men do. But they aren't, on average, looking to have it as indiscriminately as men do.
The equilibrium isn't for "an orgy every weekend." There isn't a stable equilibrium if the number of males and females and fluctuating; for more on this and how small numbers of people influence mating/dating markets, see Tim Harford's _The Logic of Life_.
Note too that variations among individuals are greater than variations between groups, so those of you who are about to tell stories about your guy friend who is asexual and your female friend who hooks up with a new guy every weekend are not being inconsistent with the above, which has been established empirically through a variety of means discussed in the books referenced.