Universities should accept equal numbers of male and female students in every subject. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Main ideas

Introduction

1. Men and women should have equal educational opportunities.
2. However, forcing equal gender proportions in every university subject is not appropriate.

Body Paragraph 1 – Practical reasons

3. Achieving equal numbers of males and females in all courses is unrealistic.
4. University enrolment depends on the number of applicants from each gender.
5. Some subjects are naturally more popular with one gender (e.g. nursing attracts more females).
6. Gender quotas could make it difficult to fill certain courses.

Body Paragraph 2 – Fairness and merit

7. Selecting students based on gender is unfair.
8. Universities should admit students based on merit and qualifications, not gender.
9. Rejecting better candidates because of gender would be unjust.

Conclusion

10. Student selection should be merit-based, and gender-based quotas are both impractical and unfair.

Introduction: In my opinion, men and women should have the same educational opportunities. However, I do not agree with the idea of accepting equal proportions of each gender in every university subject.

Having the same number of men and women on all degree courses is simply unrealistic., Student numbers on any course depend on the applications that the institution receives. If a university decided to fill courses with equal numbers of males and females, it would need enough applicants of each gender. In reality, many courses are more popular with one gender than the other, and it would not be practical to aim for equal proportions. For example, nursing courses tend to attract more female applicants, and it would be difficult to fill these courses if fifty per cent of the places needed to go to males.

Apart from the practical concerns expressed above, I also believe that it would be unfair to base admission to university courses on gender. Universities should continue to select the best candidates for each course according to their qualifications. In this way, both men and women have the same opportunities, and applicants know that they will be successful if they work hard to achieve good grades at school. If a female student is the best candidate for a place on a course, it would be wrong to reject her in favour of a male student with lower grades or fewer qualifications.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the selection of university students should be based on merit, and it would be both impractical and unfair to change to a selection procedure based on gender. (256 words)

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