Universities should accept equal numbers of male and female students in every subject.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
In my opinion, men and women should have the same educational
opportunities. However, I do
not agree with the idea of accepting equal proportions
of each gender in every university subject.
Having the same number of men and women on all degree courses
is simply unrealistic. Student
numbers on any course depend on the applications that the institution
receives. If a university
decided to fill courses with equal numbers of males and females, it would need enough
applicants of each gender. In reality, many courses are more popular
with one gender than the
other, and it would not be practical to aim for equal proportions.
For example, nursing courses
tend to attract more female applicants, and it would be difficult to
fill these courses if fifty per
cent of the places needed to go to males.
Apart from the practical concerns expressed above,
I also believe that it would be unfair to base
admission to university courses on gender.
Universities should continue to select the best
candidates for each course according to their qualifications.
In this way, both men and women
have the same opportunities, and applicants know that they
will be successful if they work hard
to achieve good grades at school.
If a female student is the best candidate for a place on a course,
it is surely wrong to reject her in favour of a male student with lower grades or fewer
qualifications.
In conclusion, the selection of university students should be based on merit,
and it would be both
impractical and unfair to change to a selection procedure based on gender.