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Haley Murray Daily Egyptian

Next year, SIUC will begin recruiting and offering new scholarships to draw female students, Vice chancellor of diversity Seymour Bryson said.

Although women make up more than half of the United State's population, the population of female students at SIUC cannot seem to make it past 46 percent.

The female student population peaked in fall 2002 and 2003 at 46 percent, but has since declined to 45 percent in fall 2004, according to the University's Institutional Research & Studies.

Bryson said because the female population is the fastest growing worldwide, the disparity between the male and female student populations is a growing concern.

"We need to bring more focus to increasing the number of female students," he said.

One goal of Southern at 150 is to close the gender gap. Methods that may be used to increase female enrollment include improving scholarship opportunities for females, assembling teams for recruitment, encouraging involvement in undergraduate research opportunities and establishing early academic outreach programs where female involvement or attendance can be expected.

These methods, however, have yet to be used because the administration must first take time to focus on the issue, Bryson said.

"We want to take time to find out why it is disproportionate and collect data," he said.

In addition, Bryson said there are certain factors that must be taken into account, such as the large international student population that is predominantly male and certain programs, such as engineering, that are disproportional.

"It is a complex issue, and we want to take the time to study it," he said.

Professor Joan McDermott, director of Women's Studies, said she has heard various hypotheses as to why there is a gender gap, including SIUC's reputation as being a party school.

"Parents are not as reluctant to send their sons, but more reluctant to send their daughters," she said. "But it's all speculation."

Bryson said Chancellor Walter Wendler is working to put a committee together and to allocate money to address the issue. McDermott said she is in favor of the committee.

"We just don't have a good understanding," she said. "Scholarships are not a bad idea, but it's whether it will address the gender gap."

Bryson said the gender gap is a major concern and challenge.

Reporter Haley Murray can be reached at haley_murray@dailyeygptian.com