Spring Break
Gender ratio imbalance persists in many majors
Males still outnumber females in some science, engineering depts.
Issue date: 11/29/07
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Hopkins has come a long way since it first opened its doors to female undergraduates in 1970. Today, Hopkins boasts a nearly equal male-female undergraduate ratio. In fact, there are 275 more female than male undergrads in the School of Arts and Sciences.
The Bloomberg School of Public Health, which has more than double the number of women compared to men, and the School of Nursing, which has an enormous majority of females, continue this trend.
Despite these closing gender gaps, the School of Engineering still has twice as many male as female students.
"My mechanical engineering class only has five or six girls. It would be nice to see more girls in engineering and technology, but I don't really mind. It shows that maybe girls are intimidated in being in a field that is so male-dominated," said freshman Rocky Barilla, a mechanical engineering major.
The G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering has 937 full-time male undergraduates, compared to 431 full-time female undergraduates. There are 432 full-time male graduate students and just 171 full-time female graduate students. The total number of men in the Whiting School of Engineering is 1,399 while the total number of women is 605. "Right now, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, we are about one-third female, and two-thirds male," said Nick Jones, dean of the School of Engineering.
The national average in engineering is about one-fifth female, according to Jones.
"Our school is doing remarkably well in the recruitment and retention of female students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels," Jones said.
"We're very happy about that number, we're very proud of it. I think the number has improved in recent years and continues to improve. We are committed to seeing it continue to improve. I'm not sure 50 percent is a quantitative goal we aspire to. I could see us in a few years being 40 percent female."
Jones explained the School of Engineering has increased the representation of faculty substantially in the last three years.
The Bloomberg School of Public Health, which has more than double the number of women compared to men, and the School of Nursing, which has an enormous majority of females, continue this trend.
Despite these closing gender gaps, the School of Engineering still has twice as many male as female students.
"My mechanical engineering class only has five or six girls. It would be nice to see more girls in engineering and technology, but I don't really mind. It shows that maybe girls are intimidated in being in a field that is so male-dominated," said freshman Rocky Barilla, a mechanical engineering major.
The G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering has 937 full-time male undergraduates, compared to 431 full-time female undergraduates. There are 432 full-time male graduate students and just 171 full-time female graduate students. The total number of men in the Whiting School of Engineering is 1,399 while the total number of women is 605. "Right now, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, we are about one-third female, and two-thirds male," said Nick Jones, dean of the School of Engineering.
The national average in engineering is about one-fifth female, according to Jones.
"Our school is doing remarkably well in the recruitment and retention of female students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels," Jones said.
"We're very happy about that number, we're very proud of it. I think the number has improved in recent years and continues to improve. We are committed to seeing it continue to improve. I'm not sure 50 percent is a quantitative goal we aspire to. I could see us in a few years being 40 percent female."
Jones explained the School of Engineering has increased the representation of faculty substantially in the last three years.
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