It seems Utah women just aren’t that interested.
The U medical school has the second-lowest enrollment of women in public medical schools in the nation, at 37 percent. The problem isn’t discrimination against women applicants, as one might suspect, but that so few women apply.
Out of the 102 slots open for admissions, only 30 percent of applicants to the program are women. With the percentage of women accepted into the school above that of women applicants, it shows they are being accepted at an equal, if not higher, rate than men.
Women simply aren’t applying to the U medical school. The Salt Lake Tribune printed an editorial Monday blaming the Utah culture caused by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which emphasizes motherhood and traditional women’s roles, for discouraging women from undertaking the rigorous and lengthy training of medical school.
This knee-jerk reaction is often cited as the cause of many of Utah’s problems. While it is a possibility, there is no solid information to support the conclusion and it shouldn’t be accepted on a hunch.
Regardless of what might be behind the low numbers, Utah women need greater encouragement to pursue the sciences at a younger age. High schools and associate degree programs should make it a priority to engage women and girls in math and science. Certainly, anyone discouraging their interest should be admonished and made to change their ways.
The U could take a more active stance by enacting a program of community outreach to engage women in these professions.