On 1 December, the government-appointed committee presented its proposal for changes to the regulations for admission to higher education. The committee will, among other things, remove all additional points, and remove the opportunity to improve grades by taking up subjects as a private student. The online newspaper Khrono writes on Wednesday that it will favor the women. The reason is simple: girls get better grades on average than boys – and will thus benefit the most from the fact that grades from upper secondary school count more. This means that the proportion of women, which is already high at many prestigious studies, will be even greater. The Directorate for Higher Education and Skills has calculated what the consequences of the proposal will be. The proportion of women on, for example, the professional studies in psychology will increase from 72 to 81 per cent as a result of the change, according to Khrono. In veterinary studies, the proportion of women jumps to 95 per cent. An unwanted consequence that must be counteracted, says Marianne Aasen. She is the head of the Admissions Committee. Here are the proposals from the Admissions Committee: The committee will remove the current system of age and additional points. The points delay the start of higher education. The grades are retained as the ranking method for the vast majority. The committee proposes that the system of first-time diploma quota and ordinary quota be replaced with a grade quota, where everyone competes with the grades from the first time the subjects were passed. The committee proposes that this should apply to 80 per cent of study places. Improved grades shall not count towards admission. Applicants who need a second chance should instead be able to take an entrance exam. 20% of the places are set aside for an entrance exam quota. Gender points are to be replaced by gender quotas on some educations. The quotas will contribute to working life and individuals having access to professionals of both sexes. The option to set grade requirements for entry into an education is proposed to be discontinued. This applies, among other things, to the current grade requirements for teacher training and nursing training. Wants gender quotas Therefore, the committee has also proposed measures that will have the opposite effect. The most important thing is quotas based on gender in studies with a very skewed gender distribution. The best applicants within their quota will then enter the course. Then a man with worse grades than a woman can be admitted to veterinary studies, as an example. COMMITTEE CHAIR: Marianne Aasen has looked at the system for admission to colleges and universities in Norway. Photo: Su thet mon – In this way, we will ensure that a sufficient number of both sexes come in, explains Aasen. She says that the committee has proposed that the quotas should be around 30 per cent. This must be the case for the measure to have the desired effect, they believe. – In many of these studies there are small cohorts, and then it is not enough to have, for example, 10 per cent men. According to Aasen, there are actually two principles that are at odds with each other when considering for or against quotas. – It is an intervention in the individual’s life that some may perceive as unfair. But we believe that social considerations dictate that it is still right. – The sexes have different preferences, Aasen points to several examples. As mentioned, veterinary studies are almost completely dominated by women. – The two sexes seem to have different preferences about where they want to work. Now, for example, there is a shortage of veterinarians in agriculture, where specialists on larger animals are needed. – This probably happens because women dominate the study and traditionally prefer to work with small animals. It shows that biased recruitment in the studies can have consequences for society later on. Dean Anne Storset at the Veterinary College (NMBU) agrees. She wants both sexes represented both in the studies and in the professions. – Women and men can have different spheres of interest and can make different contributions to the development of the subject over time. For the study environment, it is good to have both sexes represented, she has told news previously. Marianne Aasen explains that another measure that is proposed to be introduced will also work to the men’s advantage. Entrance test The committee wants applicants who need a second chance to enter a course to be able to take an entrance test. 20 percent of the places are set aside for such an entrance examination quota. – In entrance exams in Sweden, it turns out that men do slightly better than women. We don’t know why this is so, but it works against women getting better grades at upper secondary school, she says. – Must be ranked fairly But not everyone in the committee agreed with this. Ingeborg Marie Østby Laukvik and Kristin Schultz believe that there should be no gender quota. Law student Kristin Schultz is part of the Admissions Committee. Photo: Private – It is a matter of principled dissent. If there were gender quotas first, I agree with the arrangement. But I think in principle that you should aim to find the best qualified applicants. Then you also have to rank them in a fair way, says Kristin Schultz to news. Schultz is a law student, a course where seven out of ten new students are women. She is also a former leader of the Student Organization. She agrees that gender differences are a major societal problem, but she believes that separate gender quotas are treating the symptoms of a deeper problem, which already starts in primary school. – You see in many cases that the problem is not necessarily that the underrepresented gender is unable to compete, but that there are not that many applicants. Therefore, it will be symptomatic treatment. Then you have to work on getting more people to want to apply, she says. Believes there are other solutions She believes there are other and better alternatives to gender quotas. – This probably has a lot to do with how upper secondary school is set up. Maybe we need to get better at implementing assessment situations that appeal better to boys. Now there are many tests in which girls statistically perform better, she says, and adds: – We believe that it is the role of the admissions system to find the best qualified applicants in a good and fair way. Then the applicants must also be able to compete on the basis of characteristics they can influence themselves, and not external factors such as gender or background.
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Proposes own quotas to prevent women from becoming too dominant in several studies – news Nordland
