Natasha Ali | Supplement Coordinator
Featured image: OIPA statistics indicate that students in Engineering and Computer Science are predominantly male. | Ernesto Eslava
How often do you see men teaching a gender studies course, or women teaching a physics course? The answer to both of these questions is probably: not that often. We often see a huge discrepancy in gender ratios among certain majors, such as the typically male-oriented STEM fields or female-dominated ones, like Gender Studies or Social Work.
The uneven distribution of men and women in these domains usually stems from adherence to stereotypes and stigmas surrounding the perceived abilities and inabilities of the sexes.
At York, the ratio of male-to-female students and faculty is unbalanced in certain areas of study. According to a Fact Book published by the Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis (OIPA) in 2015, those majoring in fields related to social science and humanities are taken predominantly by female students, whereas STEM majors have a higher male enrollment percentage.
In particular, the most popular majors for women are Gender and Women’s Studies and Social Work, with more than 50 per cent of students being female.
In contrast, OIPA statistics, as well as student testimonies, indicate that students in Engineering and Computer Science are predominantly male.
The reason for this ratio incompatibility seems to be due to archaic beliefs that men have more “brains” to take on challenging degrees and career paths, and women choose the more creative and emotionally-stimulating degrees to match their stigmatized personalities.
Sociology students tend to observe a high female presence, and even an anonymous Creative Writing student says he finds he is the only male student in many of his classes.
Tom Granger, a third-year Computer Science student, notes this can be blamed on the lack of incentives women have to pursue majors in Mathematics or Engineering. Referring to previous years, he says: “Females weren’t allowed to go into Engineering, or were not encouraged to do so.”
Speaking further about his own experiences as a Computer Science major, he believes that “there hasn’t been as much effort put into encouraging women to go into Computer Science.”
However, there have been many recent changes to the way women are represented in the workplace. A number of women are now embracing their roles as leaders and intelligent individuals, who possess the same capacities as their male counterparts.
Universities across Canada are making sure to create equal opportunities for women to thrive and reach their full potential.
Granger adds: “Many people are starting to create events and organizations to encourage females, even some of my professors.”
