S.11-126

SFU

OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC AND PROVOST

University Drive, Burnaby, BC

Canada V5A 1S6

TEL: 778.782.3925

FAX: 778.782.5876

vpacad@sfu.ca

www.sfu.ca/vpacademic

MEMORANDUM

attention Senate

DATE

October 18,2011

from

Jon Driver, Vice-President, Academic and

PAGES 1/2

Provost

RE:

Response to question regarding gender differences

Senator June Francis has submitted the following questionslto me:

What are the key gender difference statistics at SFtlLSpecifically, what are the

application, acceptance and registration rates by gender at SFU? Are there noteworthy

trends in these data?

Are there any significant differences in these data by faculty or other important

criteria?

Does SFU have strategies in place for addressing any imbalances identified? If so, what

are these? If not,

why not?

Institutional Research and Planning has prepared a short report (attached) that I

hope provides

useful summary data for Senate.

As one can see from the first page of the report, the overall rate of applications from men and

women has remained fairly constant for the last five years, with women constituting slightly more

than half of applicants, admitted individuals and first-time registrations for undergraduate

programs. In graduate programs, there are differences between doctoral, masters and diploma

programs. In doctoral programs, there is still a predominance of male applicants, with a slight

decrease of female applicants and admissions since 2006/2007. A similar decline in the number of

women who apply to masters programs can be seen, but the percentage of female first registrations

has

been fairly constant. The relatively high percentage of female applicants and registrants in

"other" graduate programs probably reflects the fact that the Graduate Diploma in Education

attracts a high percentage

of women.

The second page provides data on the number and percentage of credentials awarded by gender.

These data therefore reflect the

number of women and men who start a program and their

persistence in the program.

There is a slight decline in the percentage of women who receive

bachelor's degrees, but overall for the last five years there has been an approximate 3:2 ratio of

women to men who have completed undergraduate degree programs. At the graduate level, we

see a similar trend for masters programs (likely influenced by a high percentage

of women in the

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

THINKING OF THE WORLD

M.Ed, programs). The rather small number of doctorates awarded annually probably influences

the less stable gender percentages, but overall women receive fewer doctoral degrees than men.

The third page breaks down headcounts of registered students by Faculty. As one would expect,

there are significant differences in the gender balance across Faculties. For undergraduate

programs, the lowest participation of women is in Applied Sciences (Computing and Engineering)

and the highest in Education; these two Faculties have been outliers for the past five years. For

the remaining Faculties, the results are fairly consistent through time, although there appears to be

a trend to fewer female students in Environment and more in FCAT, with the percentage of male

students ranging from the 30!s in Health Sciences to 48% in Science and Business. The only

Faculty with less than 50% women undergraduates is Applied Sciences.

Graduate enrollment patterns do not map exactly on to undergraduate patterns. For example,

Business graduate programs have more men than women, whereas in Health Sciences there are

higher percentages of female graduate students than undergraduates. Applied Sciences remains the

most male-dominated Faculty for graduate programs.

One should note that if all data were broken down by school, department or program, more

variation could be observed.

Given the overall figures, I am not particularly worried that the University as a whole is

unbalanced with regard to gender, and I recognize that there are broad societal factors that result

in phenomena such as the high proportion of men in engineering and the high proportion of

women intending to become teachers. Given that disciplinary differences exist, I would expect

Faculty deans to be involved in determining

whether action is warranted, and what action is

appropriate.

SFU

INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH AND PUNNING

Gender Difference Statistics

Student Headcount by Faculty (2006/07 to 2010/11)

Undergraduate

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

Faculty

Headcount % Female

Headcount % Female Headcount % Female

Headcount % Female

Applied Sciences

2,806

15%

2,461

15%

2,174

15%

1,840

17%

1,482

18%

Arts & Social Sciences

12,565

59%

12,348

59%

12,313

60%

12,178

61%

11,961

62%

Beedie School of Business

3,711

52%

3,559

52%

3,597

51%

3,194

52%

2,884

52%

Communication, Art & Technology

2,749

61%

2,642

60%

2,526

58%

2,438

55%

2,383

55%

Education

1,645

80%

1,583

80%

1,480

82%

1,460

81%

1,433

79%

Environment

745

54%

667

58%

638

58%

643

62%

678

63%

Health Sciences

1,195

67%

1,022

67%

588

67%

334

63%

72%

Science

4,259

52%

4,138

53%

4,117

53%

4,220

53%

4,066

53%

Unspecified

50%

66%

65%

50%

75%

Total

29,697

54%

28,477

55%

27,479

55%

26,332

56%

25,009

57%

Graduate

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

Faculty

Headcount % Female

Headcount %

Female

Headcount % Female

Headcount %

Female

Applied Sciences

529

21%

518

23%

443

22%

407

23%

394

23%

Arts & Social Sciences

1,048

60%

1,073

61%

1,046

62%

990

62%

948

63%

Beedie School of Business

688

38%

642

37%

607

37%

485

37%

534

33%

Communication, Art & Technology

298

54%

312

52%

272

50%

264

53%

258

52%

Education

1,754

76%

1,968

75%

1,989

74%

2,040

74%

1,913

74%

Environment

243

60%

255

57%

254

56%

243

58%

245

58%

Health Sciences

203

86%

188

89%

155

85%

105

83%

75%

Science

745

45%

731

46%

697

45%

687

44%

688

44%

Unspecified

29%

Total

5,507

57%

5,685

58%

5,461

58%

5,241

59%

5,044

58%

Notes:

a) Data based on fiscal year.

b) A student is counted if registered in at least one term in the fiscal year.

c) A student in more than one Faculty is split between the Faculties.

d) A student's most current Faculty and program is reported each year.

e) Data have been reorganized into the new faculty structure for comparison purposes only.

Source: IRP (oasis2).

Institutional Research and Planning, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6

T 778.782.7547 | F 778.782.6599 | www.sfu.ca/irp

SFU

INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Gender Difference Statistics

Applications, Admissions and New Registrations (2006/07 to 2010/11)

Undergraduate

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

Headcount

% Female

Headcount

% Female

Headcount

% Female

Headcount

% Female

Headcount

% Female

Applicants

Admissions

Registered

24,299

53%

13,156

55%

7,447

54%

22,703

53%

13,311

56%

7,377

55%

21,486

53%

13,211

55%

7,397

55%

21,114

54%

13,049

56%

7,504

55%

20,785

54%

11,436

57%

6,382

57%

Graduate

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

Headcount

% Female

Headcount

% Female

Headcount

% Female

Headcount

% Female

Headcount

% Female

Doctorate

Applicants

1,137

40%

1,080

41%

870

40%

795

43%

938

49%

Admissions

325

47%

359

46%

307

41%

256

43%

280

55%

Registered

249

47%

264

48%

247

45%

209

41%

255

51%

Masters

Applicants

3,960

52%

3,659

54%

3,206

56%

3,095

58%

2,992

55%

Admissions

1,374

57%

1,535

56%

1,351

55%

1,133

57%

1,017

55%

Registered

1,009

57%

1,047

57%

997

54%

876

57%

860

56%

Other

Applicants

609

64%

830

65%

717

62%

804

69%

752

66%

Admissions

499

66%

681

66%

567

61%

693

70%

683

66%

Registered

443

67%

596

70%

474

65%

598

71%

648

66%

Notes:

a) Data based on fiscal year.

b) Applicants refers to the number of students who applied to SFU. If a student applied for more than one program in a term, the student is

counted only once in the term. If a student applied for more than one term in a fiscal year, the student is counted once under each term.

c) Admissions refers to the number of students offered admission to SFU.

Registered refers to the number of new students enrolled as of the end of week 3 of classes.

e) Other graduate programs includes graduate diplomas, exchange students, qualifying students and special students.

Source: Admissions data from Office of the Registrar. Registration data from IRP (oasis2 and graduate database).

Institutional Research and Planning, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6

T 778.782.7547 | F 778.782.6599 | www.sfu.ca/irp

SFU

INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Gender Difference Statistics

Credentials Conferred (2006/07 to 2010/11)

Undergraduate

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

Number

Awarded

% Female

Number

Awarded

% Female

Number

Awarded

% Female

Number

Awarded

% Female

Number

Awarded

% Female

Bachelors

Certificates

Post Baccalaureate Diplomas

4,472

59%

373

68%

82%

4,289

60%

365

73%

83%

4,441

60%

419

75%

78%

4,161

60%

432

71%

84%

4,310

62%

485

73%

88%

Total

4,922

60%

4,719

61%

4,910

61%

4,643

61%

4,867

64%

Graduate

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

Number

Awarded

% Female

Awarded

% Female

Awarded

% Female

Awarded

% Female

Awarded

% Female

Masters

1,010

57%

932

58%

879

57%

662

59%

768

56%

Doctorates

130

42%

133

50%

131

42%

128

48%

104

54%

Graduate Certificates

67%

100%

Graduate Diplomas

147

66%

121

67%

133

66%

148

61%

147

68%

Total

1,290

56%

1,186

58%

1,145

56%

940

58%

1,021

57%

Notes:

a) Data based on the fiscal year in which the student completed the requirements for the credential

Source: IRP (credawrd2).

Institutional Research and Planning, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6

T 778.782.7547 | F 778.782.6599 | www.sfu.ca/irp