Surfacing Gender and Class Patterns in Undergraduate Application Materials: Implications for Academic Pathways

• In Event: Women Students, Faculty, and Administrators in Higher Education

Abstract

College application materials are a novel site to examine the performance of gender and academic identity, lending new insight into the constraining and persistent effects of gender on academic pathways. Employing a mixed-methods approach and drawing on a corpus of 120,000 applications to a selective research university, we analyze three facets of the application: major intent, essay prompt selection, and the content of essays written about “academic inspiration.” We find that all three sites surface stark gendered and class disparities, with certain disciplines, narrative themes, and prompt selection disproportionately attracting wealthy male applicants. Our findings have broad implications for gender equity in education and work.

Authors

• Sonia Giebel, Stanford University

• AJ Alvero, Stanford University