Robinson emphasized that the gender disparity is not as unusual as the numbers may suggest. Liberal arts colleges in general have a higher proportion of female students than other institutions of higher education. Robinson pointed to the lack of engineering and business programs as a possible explanation for the greater gender imbalance at liberal arts schools. These programs generally attract more male students than other college programs do. Robinson also noted that more women than men are qualified to attend highly selective colleges like Macalester.
Women outperform men on almost every criterion for college admission.
While men have higher average SAT scores than women and are more inclined to have positions of leadership in high school sports, female high school students take more challenging classes, have higher GPAs and occupy more leadership positions overall. Robinson also suggested that the small, nurturing and community-oriented atmosphere of a school like Macalester may be particularly appealing to women. International studies programs, a Macalester strength, also tend to attract more women than men. In order to get out the word that Macalester is also a good place for men, Admissions intends to highlight programs that particularly appeal to men in its recruitment of the Class of 2005. These programs include computer science, economics, physics and math.