The Paula Principle

UCAS

The PP put into reverse – or is it?

Results for A levels were published yesterday in the UK.  This is the first year to show the outcomes of the reforms introduced by Michael Gove, and the coverage beforehand verged on the hysterical:  would the rushed through reforms lead to a drop in achievement? In the event, the results were something of a damp squib - for the commentators, not for the students, of course.  There was a tiny uplift overall in the top grades.  But since Ofqual had intervened to ensure there would be no dramatic drop in the results, this was hardly an objective improvement. Maybe as a result, the headline-writers fixed on something else:  "Boys outperform…
Read More

The divergence continues

Two separate items from this week which exactly confirm the divergence that is at the heart of the Paula Principle. First the 'End of Cycle' report from UCAS shows women moving even further ahead.   (By the way, what does "UCAS' stand for?  Universities Commission on Admissions and Statistics?  I couldn't find it on their site.)    The entry rate for 18 year old women is 9.2 percentage points higher than for men, making them 35 per cent (proportionally) more likely to enter than men. These differences, both proportional and in percentage points, are the highest recorded. Here's the chart: Another very significant point is that this effect is even…
Read More

Gaps

A quick post following a good meeting yesterday organised by UCU, on widening access to higher education, in the august surrounding's of the Dean's Yard Westminster.  (My last post came from the even more distinguished crypt of St Paul's - where will I find myself next?). Two key issues struck me.  One was 'trends in gaps'.    Helen Thornley of UCAS gave details of the latest figures on applications and entries to universities.    The gap between those from the most and least advantaged backgrounds is diminishing - though not very fast, and not o the 'high tariff' (i.e. elite) universities.  At the same time, the gap between female and…
Read More

Higher education: UCAS shows more push behind the PP

What gives the Paula Principle its current salience is the difference levels of achievement between women and men in education of all kinds.   I've just been looking at the latest UCAS report on applications and entry to higher education.  It confirms the seemingly inexorable growth in the gap between female and male educational paths. First, the overall picture: - For 18 year olds in 2014 the entry rate increased (3.2 per cent proportionally for men, 3.7 per cent for women) to the highest recorded levels for both men (25.8 per cent) and women (34.1 per cent). As with application rates, 18 year old women were around a third (32…
Read More

Balancing the balance argument

The chief executive of UCAS, Mary Curnock Cook, recently made a really important point on gender 'balance', reported in the last issue of the Times Higher Education.  Speaking to the Association of University Administrators she observed that whilst it would take an additional 15000 female students to 'balance out' the current male dominance in engineering, it would take getting on for double that to do the same for the current female dominance of subjects allied to medicine, which includes nursing.   So, she argued, we should maybe be paying at least as much attention to getting more men into subjects where they are underrepresented as we do in respect of…
Read More

The PP put into reverse – or is it?

Results for A levels were published yesterday in the UK.  This is the first year to show the outcomes of the reforms introduced by Michael Gove, and the coverage beforehand verged on the hysterical:  would the rushed through reforms lead to a drop in achievement? In the event, the results were something of a damp squib - for the commentators, not for the students, of course.  There was a tiny uplift overall in the top grades.  But since Ofqual had intervened to ensure there would be no dramatic drop in the results, this was hardly an objective improvement. Maybe as a result, the headline-writers fixed on something else:  "Boys outperform…
Read More

The divergence continues

Two separate items from this week which exactly confirm the divergence that is at the heart of the Paula Principle. First the 'End of Cycle' report from UCAS shows women moving even further ahead.   (By the way, what does "UCAS' stand for?  Universities Commission on Admissions and Statistics?  I couldn't find it on their site.)    The entry rate for 18 year old women is 9.2 percentage points higher than for men, making them 35 per cent (proportionally) more likely to enter than men. These differences, both proportional and in percentage points, are the highest recorded. Here's the chart: Another very significant point is that this effect is even…
Read More

Gaps

A quick post following a good meeting yesterday organised by UCU, on widening access to higher education, in the august surrounding's of the Dean's Yard Westminster.  (My last post came from the even more distinguished crypt of St Paul's - where will I find myself next?). Two key issues struck me.  One was 'trends in gaps'.    Helen Thornley of UCAS gave details of the latest figures on applications and entries to universities.    The gap between those from the most and least advantaged backgrounds is diminishing - though not very fast, and not o the 'high tariff' (i.e. elite) universities.  At the same time, the gap between female and…
Read More

Higher education: UCAS shows more push behind the PP

What gives the Paula Principle its current salience is the difference levels of achievement between women and men in education of all kinds.   I've just been looking at the latest UCAS report on applications and entry to higher education.  It confirms the seemingly inexorable growth in the gap between female and male educational paths. First, the overall picture: - For 18 year olds in 2014 the entry rate increased (3.2 per cent proportionally for men, 3.7 per cent for women) to the highest recorded levels for both men (25.8 per cent) and women (34.1 per cent). As with application rates, 18 year old women were around a third (32…
Read More

Balancing the balance argument

The chief executive of UCAS, Mary Curnock Cook, recently made a really important point on gender 'balance', reported in the last issue of the Times Higher Education.  Speaking to the Association of University Administrators she observed that whilst it would take an additional 15000 female students to 'balance out' the current male dominance in engineering, it would take getting on for double that to do the same for the current female dominance of subjects allied to medicine, which includes nursing.   So, she argued, we should maybe be paying at least as much attention to getting more men into subjects where they are underrepresented as we do in respect of…
Read More

The PP put into reverse – or is it?

Results for A levels were published yesterday in the UK.  This is the first year to show the outcomes of the reforms introduced by Michael Gove, and the coverage beforehand verged on the hysterical:  would the rushed through reforms lead to a drop in achievement? In the event, the results were something of a damp squib - for the commentators, not for the students, of course.  There was a tiny uplift overall in the top grades.  But since Ofqual had intervened to ensure there would be no dramatic drop in the results, this was hardly an objective improvement. Maybe as a result, the headline-writers fixed on something else:  "Boys outperform…
Read More

The divergence continues

Two separate items from this week which exactly confirm the divergence that is at the heart of the Paula Principle. First the 'End of Cycle' report from UCAS shows women moving even further ahead.   (By the way, what does "UCAS' stand for?  Universities Commission on Admissions and Statistics?  I couldn't find it on their site.)    The entry rate for 18 year old women is 9.2 percentage points higher than for men, making them 35 per cent (proportionally) more likely to enter than men. These differences, both proportional and in percentage points, are the highest recorded. Here's the chart: Another very significant point is that this effect is even…
Read More

Gaps

A quick post following a good meeting yesterday organised by UCU, on widening access to higher education, in the august surrounding's of the Dean's Yard Westminster.  (My last post came from the even more distinguished crypt of St Paul's - where will I find myself next?). Two key issues struck me.  One was 'trends in gaps'.    Helen Thornley of UCAS gave details of the latest figures on applications and entries to universities.    The gap between those from the most and least advantaged backgrounds is diminishing - though not very fast, and not o the 'high tariff' (i.e. elite) universities.  At the same time, the gap between female and…
Read More

Higher education: UCAS shows more push behind the PP

What gives the Paula Principle its current salience is the difference levels of achievement between women and men in education of all kinds.   I've just been looking at the latest UCAS report on applications and entry to higher education.  It confirms the seemingly inexorable growth in the gap between female and male educational paths. First, the overall picture: - For 18 year olds in 2014 the entry rate increased (3.2 per cent proportionally for men, 3.7 per cent for women) to the highest recorded levels for both men (25.8 per cent) and women (34.1 per cent). As with application rates, 18 year old women were around a third (32…
Read More

Balancing the balance argument

The chief executive of UCAS, Mary Curnock Cook, recently made a really important point on gender 'balance', reported in the last issue of the Times Higher Education.  Speaking to the Association of University Administrators she observed that whilst it would take an additional 15000 female students to 'balance out' the current male dominance in engineering, it would take getting on for double that to do the same for the current female dominance of subjects allied to medicine, which includes nursing.   So, she argued, we should maybe be paying at least as much attention to getting more men into subjects where they are underrepresented as we do in respect of…
Read More

The PP put into reverse – or is it?

Results for A levels were published yesterday in the UK.  This is the first year to show the outcomes of the reforms introduced by Michael Gove, and the coverage beforehand verged on the hysterical:  would the rushed through reforms lead to a drop in achievement? In the event, the results were something of a damp squib - for the commentators, not for the students, of course.  There was a tiny uplift overall in the top grades.  But since Ofqual had intervened to ensure there would be no dramatic drop in the results, this was hardly an objective improvement. Maybe as a result, the headline-writers fixed on something else:  "Boys outperform…
Read More

The divergence continues

Two separate items from this week which exactly confirm the divergence that is at the heart of the Paula Principle. First the 'End of Cycle' report from UCAS shows women moving even further ahead.   (By the way, what does "UCAS' stand for?  Universities Commission on Admissions and Statistics?  I couldn't find it on their site.)    The entry rate for 18 year old women is 9.2 percentage points higher than for men, making them 35 per cent (proportionally) more likely to enter than men. These differences, both proportional and in percentage points, are the highest recorded. Here's the chart: Another very significant point is that this effect is even…
Read More

Gaps

A quick post following a good meeting yesterday organised by UCU, on widening access to higher education, in the august surrounding's of the Dean's Yard Westminster.  (My last post came from the even more distinguished crypt of St Paul's - where will I find myself next?). Two key issues struck me.  One was 'trends in gaps'.    Helen Thornley of UCAS gave details of the latest figures on applications and entries to universities.    The gap between those from the most and least advantaged backgrounds is diminishing - though not very fast, and not o the 'high tariff' (i.e. elite) universities.  At the same time, the gap between female and…
Read More

Higher education: UCAS shows more push behind the PP

What gives the Paula Principle its current salience is the difference levels of achievement between women and men in education of all kinds.   I've just been looking at the latest UCAS report on applications and entry to higher education.  It confirms the seemingly inexorable growth in the gap between female and male educational paths. First, the overall picture: - For 18 year olds in 2014 the entry rate increased (3.2 per cent proportionally for men, 3.7 per cent for women) to the highest recorded levels for both men (25.8 per cent) and women (34.1 per cent). As with application rates, 18 year old women were around a third (32…
Read More

Balancing the balance argument

The chief executive of UCAS, Mary Curnock Cook, recently made a really important point on gender 'balance', reported in the last issue of the Times Higher Education.  Speaking to the Association of University Administrators she observed that whilst it would take an additional 15000 female students to 'balance out' the current male dominance in engineering, it would take getting on for double that to do the same for the current female dominance of subjects allied to medicine, which includes nursing.   So, she argued, we should maybe be paying at least as much attention to getting more men into subjects where they are underrepresented as we do in respect of…
Read More

The PP put into reverse – or is it?

Results for A levels were published yesterday in the UK.  This is the first year to show the outcomes of the reforms introduced by Michael Gove, and the coverage beforehand verged on the hysterical:  would the rushed through reforms lead to a drop in achievement? In the event, the results were something of a damp squib - for the commentators, not for the students, of course.  There was a tiny uplift overall in the top grades.  But since Ofqual had intervened to ensure there would be no dramatic drop in the results, this was hardly an objective improvement. Maybe as a result, the headline-writers fixed on something else:  "Boys outperform…
Read More

The divergence continues

Two separate items from this week which exactly confirm the divergence that is at the heart of the Paula Principle. First the 'End of Cycle' report from UCAS shows women moving even further ahead.   (By the way, what does "UCAS' stand for?  Universities Commission on Admissions and Statistics?  I couldn't find it on their site.)    The entry rate for 18 year old women is 9.2 percentage points higher than for men, making them 35 per cent (proportionally) more likely to enter than men. These differences, both proportional and in percentage points, are the highest recorded. Here's the chart: Another very significant point is that this effect is even…
Read More

Gaps

A quick post following a good meeting yesterday organised by UCU, on widening access to higher education, in the august surrounding's of the Dean's Yard Westminster.  (My last post came from the even more distinguished crypt of St Paul's - where will I find myself next?). Two key issues struck me.  One was 'trends in gaps'.    Helen Thornley of UCAS gave details of the latest figures on applications and entries to universities.    The gap between those from the most and least advantaged backgrounds is diminishing - though not very fast, and not o the 'high tariff' (i.e. elite) universities.  At the same time, the gap between female and…
Read More

Higher education: UCAS shows more push behind the PP

What gives the Paula Principle its current salience is the difference levels of achievement between women and men in education of all kinds.   I've just been looking at the latest UCAS report on applications and entry to higher education.  It confirms the seemingly inexorable growth in the gap between female and male educational paths. First, the overall picture: - For 18 year olds in 2014 the entry rate increased (3.2 per cent proportionally for men, 3.7 per cent for women) to the highest recorded levels for both men (25.8 per cent) and women (34.1 per cent). As with application rates, 18 year old women were around a third (32…
Read More

Balancing the balance argument

The chief executive of UCAS, Mary Curnock Cook, recently made a really important point on gender 'balance', reported in the last issue of the Times Higher Education.  Speaking to the Association of University Administrators she observed that whilst it would take an additional 15000 female students to 'balance out' the current male dominance in engineering, it would take getting on for double that to do the same for the current female dominance of subjects allied to medicine, which includes nursing.   So, she argued, we should maybe be paying at least as much attention to getting more men into subjects where they are underrepresented as we do in respect of…
Read More