Females are Taking Over ASP

By JOE TARR

A large number of girls are attending the Advanced Studies Program (ASP) this year, following  a pattern set in previous years, leaving the majority of the ASP community to wonder why there are actually a lot more  females attending than males.

The actual ratio of female students to male students attending the ASP this summer is roughly two to one (2:1). To most, that ratio seems small but, when dealing with large numbers, it is not so minute. There are a total of 180 girls attending the ASP and only 90 guys enrolled this session.

When girls were asked why there are so many girls opposed to guys, the majority said it was because girls are more motivated and more willing to spend a whole summer participating in an academic environment, whereas guys are more drawn to summers filled with athletic activities. Others like Elizabeth Gosselin, a student in Studio Arts and a resident in Conover-20, simply said that “boys just feel like they are too cool for school.”

The question of girls having more academic opportunities and guys having more athletic opportunities did not have complete support from all of the female students interviewed. Megan Deschaine, a student in Introduction to Japanese and a resident of Warren House, disagreed, saying “I have the same chance of athletic opportunities of any male.” Deschaine’s class, like many others this summer, is mostly filled with girls, as it possesses a ratio of eight girls to four boys (8:4).

The acceptance of more girls than guys is not only true this year, but has also been true in previous years, according to Michael Ricard, ASP Director. In his three years as the head of the program, he has never had an acceptance rate of 50/50. This largely stands as a result of the students that apply to the program, as this year’s applicant pool this year had 502 applicants, 65 percent of which were females and 35 percent of which were males, according to Ricard. “Girls tend to be more mature at this age than guys, making them more apt to make sacrifices in order to spend a summer at ASP,” said Ricard.

Some teachers had different, but very different perspectives on why fewer guys attend ASP than girls. Writing Workshop Master Teacher Greg Lawless said that “the ratio makes sense because most of the classes are more aspects of humanity and this normally doesn’t attract guys.”

When asked for their thoughts on why more females get accepted to the ASP than males, a majority of male students simply responded that females just like school more than guys. While this certainly was not the response that all guys gave, Marine Biology student and Simpson House resident Pat Kennedy strongly believed that he spoke on the behalf of guys when he said that a lot of “guys just don’t like school.”

That said, even though greater numbers of females apply to the ASP and many males may not feel as strong a desire to spend their summers studying, females and males have an equal opportunity to be accepted to the program and will undoubtedly benefit greatly from their participation, either regardless or because of the lack of gender balance.