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

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 is surely wrong to reject her in favour of a male student with lower grades or fewer qualifications. 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

.