“Being a Christian liberal arts school, we track the most disproportionately female pool.” “Based on institutional type, the gender ratio is even more out of balance,” Orwig said. The gender imbalance at Whitworth, as a Christian private school, may be greater than that of a state school, said Greg Orwig, vice president of admissions and financial aid. Reasons for Whitworth having higher female ratios “If we ever were to drop below 40 percent (male enrollment) then it would be a concern and we would need to shift our gears as to how we are recruiting males,” Hansen said. Since Whitworth falls within the current national average for non-profit university attendance, the imbalanced gender ratio does not cause concern, said Marianne Hansen, director of Whitworth admissions. Nationally for the last few years, public universities have an average imbalance of 43% male and 64% female enrollment, while private schools have an even greater imbalance of 40% male and 60% female enrollment, according to Forbes magazine. Other than that time period during World War II, Whitworth’s enrollment fits the trend of females significantly outnumbering males in universities starting in the late 1970s. In 1943-1945, male enrollment plummeted, with an average of 22 percent male enrollment and 78 percent female enrollment. The gender ratios of the early 1890s starkly contrast 2016’s female-dominated university enrollment of 57 percent female and 43 percent male enrollment.Īccording to Whitworth’s institutional research archives, 1942 was the first year female enrollment outnumbered male enrollment, only by one female. In the early 1890s, the founding years of Whitworth, Whitworth had an enrollment of 37 percent females and 63 percent males, according to the Catalogue of Whitworth College. Whitworth University fits the trend of significantly more females than males enrolling in universities. Total enrollment figures of universities show that female students outnumbered male students for the first time in the late 1970s, and have steadily increased their numerical advantage ever since, according to Forbes magazine.