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 percent 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.