Women narrowing gap but missing the payoff

Female undergraduates across the country currently outnumber their male counterparts, according to a recent report conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. \nThis is an old trend at IU. As far back as 1995, women have made up the majority of the student body. \nEnrollment on the Bloomington campus mirrors these findings. Female undergraduates make up 52.3 percent of the nearly 38,000 students. Male undergrads represent 47.7 percent of the student body. \nAccording to the study, the growing trend is more apparent among various ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Of the 1,524 black students enrolled at IU, 58 percent are women. The same holds true among Hispanic students. Out of 856 students enrolled at IU, 52 percent are women. \nChandra Dyson, acting director of the Hudson & Holland Scholars Program at the Office of Academic Support and Diversity at IU, said the lack of males from under-represented groups is a problem that programs such as the Hudson-Holland Scholars recognize.\n"It is always an important priority to attract under-represented males, because of course, we want more of them," Dyson said. "Unfortunately, we have not created a method for attracting these specific students." \nThe Office of Women's Affairs is an advocacy organization that aims to improve the quality of life for women enrolled in IU. Assistant Women's Affairs Dean Carol McCord is concerned that this study might misconstrue the goal. \n"There are a couple of problems with this study," McCord said. "The goal is not to have more men or more women. It is to have equal opportunity."\nDean of Students Richard McKaig said IU must take steps to dispel old thought patterns about traditionally feminine roles and careers.\n"Now that we see the increase in the number of undergraduate women available, it suggests potential for the future," McKaig said. "Now, we have to deal with issues of the past of women not being encouraged to enter some fields or to move up."\nMcCord also recognizes the importance of women attaining degrees at the undergraduate level, but she believes this is not enough. She said a better measurement of progress would be to look at the discrepancies in wages. \nInformation reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2004 states women still make .74 cents for every dollar earned by a man.\n"Males are still doing better, in terms of earning more money on the dollar, and these discrepancies start early," McCord said. "They are still at the higher levels more often than women."\nMcCord also points to the lack of tenured female professors, lecturers and administrators as indicators that there is still room for improvement. \nThe University has 1,877 faculty members, and 76 percent are tenured. However, only about 28 percent of those are women and less that 5 percent are minorities. Of the nearly 4,828 administrators, faculty and lecturers at IU, the majority -- 62 percent are men. According to the "Report on the Status of Women," conducted by the Office of Women's Affairs, under-representation of women faculty members is most apparent in business, sciences and mathematics.\n"We have a large number of women at the undergrad levels, but it isn't transferring at higher levels," McCord said. "Studies like this tend to make people complacent and keep them from seeing the real problems."\nMcKaig said this is an issue of which the University is aware of.\n"The university has definitely been making an effort to recruit more women. Some of our programs have been set aside for that purpose alone," he said. "There are still areas where work has to be done."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Eboni Gatlin at egatlin@indiana.edu.