The 2014 Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH has a disproportion of 165 girls to its 92 boys, making only ⅓ of the student population male. Is this because the admission process at ASP, or does the population’s ratio have an influence on the numbers?
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| Students gather for fruit break, where the male-to-female difference is obvious. |
According to Marketwatch, the Northeastern part of the United States has a higher population of females than males. Delaware has 51.62%, Rhode Island with 51.55%, Massachusetts (51.52%) and Maryland (51.51%). There may be a slight increase in the amount of women than men in the state, but there seems to be a bigger increase at ASP.
Throughout its history, the Advanced Studies program has prided itself on being a co-ed school, even though it started as an all male school. Mr. Michael Ricard, Director of ASP for the past six years, described some of the observations of the two programs running on school campus. “The academic school year tries to have a 50-50 ratio between the genders. But in the application process at ASP, 65% end up being girls and 35% end up being boys.”
When asked if this is more of an admission issue or acceptance issue, Mr. Ricard stated there is no prejudice between the genders. “The applications are evaluated on merit. We try to be coed, but we are very close to the ‘tipping point’ of being considered ‘all girls.’”
Ned Heckman, an Assistant Director, admitted that there could be admissions issues as well because of his experience teaching in high schools. “ASP has prided itself on having the ‘best of the best’ students in New Hampshire. I’ve seen that the higher percentage of the bright students [in our high schools] are girls. This could either be developmental or because of the school’s structure.”
So where could ‘da boyz’ be hiding? “More boys tend to flock more to sports, music camp, etc. instead of attending the program,” Mr. Ricard remarked. He estimated the top 15% of high school students in New Hampshire represented the gender balance. Ned thinks that they could be working, because that’s what he did.
While the single ladies attending the program are asking “where da boyz @”, the boys don’t seem to mind the ratio. One Mass Media reporter, Peter Federico said “I came here to learn and get a living experience away from home...kind of like a college experience.”
When asked if this is more of an admission issue or acceptance issue, Mr. Ricard stated there is no prejudice between the genders. “The applications are evaluated on merit. We try to be coed, but we are very close to the ‘tipping point’ of being considered ‘all girls.’”
Ned Heckman, an Assistant Director, admitted that there could be admissions issues as well because of his experience teaching in high schools. “ASP has prided itself on having the ‘best of the best’ students in New Hampshire. I’ve seen that the higher percentage of the bright students [in our high schools] are girls. This could either be developmental or because of the school’s structure.”
So where could ‘da boyz’ be hiding? “More boys tend to flock more to sports, music camp, etc. instead of attending the program,” Mr. Ricard remarked. He estimated the top 15% of high school students in New Hampshire represented the gender balance. Ned thinks that they could be working, because that’s what he did.
While the single ladies attending the program are asking “where da boyz @”, the boys don’t seem to mind the ratio. One Mass Media reporter, Peter Federico said “I came here to learn and get a living experience away from home...kind of like a college experience.”
This is really good! Very interesting. This reminds me of all the stats recently saying that a huge majority of engineering majors in college are males. I wonder if the same goes for the engineering class here at ASP
ReplyDeleteMau,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this article! I found the statistics incorporated interesting yet incredibly shocking. The statistics included regarding the 65% of girls applying to the program compared to the 35% of boys who applied took me off guard. The quotes you integrated into the article also really helped me to understand what those behind the scenes of the application and acceptance process thought of the ratio of boys to girls. Another aspect of your article that I really enjoyed was the quote at the conclusion. The fact that you incorporated a quote by someone in the "minority" at ASP was a great idea!
Mau, this is great! It is very interesting to be able to se the numbers put in place behind both genders. I thought that it was a great detail to include so many statistics. It was also interesting to see a boys point of view for why he decided to come here. I was surprised that the ratio for boys/girls is 65% to 35% thats a big difference!
ReplyDeleteReally interesting read! Putting numbers and statistics to what we've noticed is something I've always enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteYESS!!! Love the issue brought up about the population difference in ASP vs. New England. Great numbers!!
ReplyDelete