In the Los Angeles Times, an editorial was posted on the admissions process for new and upcoming students in several universities, and on major outcome was that there is a gender gap. More females are being admitted and fewer males. A concern is brought up; is there discrimination against females and are males getting a small boost into college in order to keep the status quo? These types of questions have been raised over that past 17 years due to that females now have more opportunities at a higher education.
The author claims that there is discrimination in the admissions process. They are able to make this claim due to statistical evidence provided by many universities and the U.S. News & World Report. There is enough evidence and claim that even the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is investigating whether this type of discrimination is true.
However most readers want to know why such biased decisions are being made. Several colleges and universities claim that they admit males easier in order to maintain a decent male population among their school. There are some schools that the author mentions that differ from this such as UCLA, who admit about the same percentage of males and females out of those to apply. There was also a quote by the dean of admissions at Kenyon College, a once all-male school, that states that a message is being sent to young women to think that they have to go far above and beyond to compete with lower achieving males.
This editorial is specifically appeals to young women, especially those applying to college and those already attending college. The author uses the word “discrimination” rather than “bias”, which creates a stronger emotion. They give statistical evidence that is hard to refute which validities their claim, making young women more skeptical about applying.
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