TestMagic Forums - View Single Post - Girls applying for econ PhD... an advantage?

Jhai · 12-02-2006, 05:26 PM

I think there's an advantage. I've been told by three female econ faculty at my school that there's an advantage in getting in, but that you have to put up with some sexist bs after you're in.

Basically, it looks bad if the school has an extreme gender imbalance, in both graduation rates and acceptance rates. So all things being equal, an econ program is more likely to chose a girl than a guy. The key is that it is "all things being equal." I doubt any program worth its stuff is going to accept a worse student over a better one because of the students' genders.

So it's a slight advantage in admissions. I imagine, however, it might be a bigger advantage when deciding where to attend - since the number of qualified female applicants is so small, programs are probably going to fight over them a bit more to get them to attend.

user_name - I expect that both US citizens and internationals who are female get some sort of diversity advantage, altho the US citizens may get a slightly higher one. But for race and the like, it's true that only US citizens get an advantage if they're hispanic or black.

12-02-2006, 05:26 PM	#6 (permalink)
Jhai Within my grasp! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Greencastle, IN Posts: 312	I think there's an advantage. I've been told by three female econ faculty at my school that there's an advantage in getting in, but that you have to put up with some sexist bs after you're in. Basically, it looks bad if the school has an extreme gender imbalance, in both graduation rates and acceptance rates. So all things being equal, an econ program is more likely to chose a girl than a guy. The key is that it is "all things being equal." I doubt any program worth its stuff is going to accept a worse student over a better one because of the students' genders. So it's a slight advantage in admissions. I imagine, however, it might be a bigger advantage when deciding where to attend - since the number of qualified female applicants is so small, programs are probably going to fight over them a bit more to get them to attend. user_name - I expect that both US citizens and internationals who are female get some sort of diversity advantage, altho the US citizens may get a slightly higher one. But for race and the like, it's true that only US citizens get an advantage if they're hispanic or black.