Does DEI include women?

[Anonymous]

Help me out here, but from what I have read, the DEI policies seem to be regarding race and not much talk about gender. The only gender issues regarding admission I have seen related to transgender in sports.

So are the new DEI policies related to race or gender? We know that some schools in the past, particularly the Ivies, balance gender as close to 50-50 as possible. I am not certain this is changing going forward.

[Anonymous]

The problem for colleges is that females have higher GPAs than males, on average. The female-heavy ratio was exacerbated by test optional policies, as less weight was given to standardized test scores than in the past, and more weight on grades.

As for Ivies specifically, several have gone back to requiring scores. It's unclear how heavily test scores will be weighted going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem for colleges is that females have higher GPAs than males, on average. The female-heavy ratio was exacerbated by test optional policies, as less weight was given to standardized test scores than in the past, and more weight on grades.

As for Ivies specifically, several have gone back to requiring scores. It's unclear how heavily test scores will be weighted going forward.

Also in majors like Engineering, how will this be handled as some colleges also have tried balance this number?

[Anonymous]

As PP notes, "DEI" re: gender basically helps men in most cases. That said, there is a legitimate basis for trying to roughly balance genders since when colleges get too female skewed they can reach a harmful tipping point for applications. I know I scratched some as suggestion options for DD that were 60%+ female.

[Anonymous]

Usually DEI for colleges benefits men.

[Anonymous]

Other than a few colleges (MIT for example) and engineering programs, female applicants typically have stronger profiles, and lower acceptance rates.

[Anonymous]

It does for science grants. I know grants that were cancelled that were researching female representation in varying areas of science or health studies.

[Anonymous]

The only schools that benefit women significantly are the women's colleges, Wellesley, Barnard, Smith, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Help me out here, but from what I have read, the DEI policies seem to be regarding race and not much talk about gender. The only gender issues regarding admission I have seen related to transgender in sports.

So are the new DEI policies related to race or gender? We know that some schools in the past, particularly the Ivies, balance gender as close to 50-50 as possible. I am not certain this is changing going forward.

The very selective schools are to balance their classes because they have so many qualified applicants there is little difference between genders. The mid to lower schools are where the issues are. Though many people still think DEI applies to women not men- ie push for more women in stem, etc. That all will be going away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only schools that benefit women significantly are the women's colleges, Wellesley, Barnard, Smith, etc.

Smith is being investigated by the Trump administration for discrimination against women for admitting trans and non-binary folks.

[Anonymous]

In college admissions, DEI only refers to race. There is actually affirmative action for boys at most colleges.

DEI in college admissions also doesn’t help those with disabilities, who are usually advised to not mention disabilities in essays, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As PP notes, "DEI" re: gender basically helps men in most cases. That said, there is a legitimate basis for trying to roughly balance genders since when colleges get too female skewed they can reach a harmful tipping point for applications. I know I scratched some as suggestion options for DD that were 60%+ female.

There are legitimate reasons for wanting racially and culturally diverse voices in schools too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually DEI for colleges benefits men.

This. Look at CDS. There are more female applicants than men for almost every top100 school yet ivy/t15 schools care more about a close to 50/50 gender balance: it favors men. These same schools also have close to 50/50 for stem/premed and yes engineering applicants: less female skewed than overall numbers but there is no shortage of females. Hence these schools who want the E school 40-60 or better often no longer have to give females a boost. It has shifted a lot in the past 5 cycles. Males and particularly males in anything non-stem are heavily favored at ivy/t15.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually DEI for colleges benefits men.

This. Look at CDS. There are more female applicants than men for almost every top100 school yet ivy/t15 schools care more about a close to 50/50 gender balance: it favors men. These same schools also have close to 50/50 for stem/premed and yes engineering applicants: less female skewed than overall numbers but there is no shortage of females. Hence these schools who want the E school 40-60 or better often no longer have to give females a boost. It has shifted a lot in the past 5 cycles. Males and particularly males in anything non-stem are heavily favored at ivy/t15.

Just because there are more female applicants does not mean more females should be accepted or that the process "favors men".

These schools have overwhelming numbers of qualified applicants for a very small number of spots, thousands of qualified kids are going to be rejected no matter who they accept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In college admissions, DEI only refers to race. There is actually affirmative action for boys at most colleges.

DEI in college admissions also doesn’t help those with disabilities, who are usually advised to not mention disabilities in essays, etc.

The first point is untrue. Most schools are consistent in the gender balance among the total applicant pool, the admitted applicants, and the enrolled students. Most have more women than men in each of those categories.