Student body more feminine

Student body more feminine

A bastion of blokedom has been breached — Lincoln University has gone girly.

This year student numbers show if you check the names on the gumboots outside the Library you are more likely to find Hannah than Hamish scrawled on them.

A 10 per cent increase from last year has seen females make up just over 51 per cent of the student population so far this year, outnumbering males for the first time.

The trend is across the board, with few subjects still having a prevailing whiff of testosterone.

First year Bachelor of Science student Alexia Marr, a former Cashmere High pupil, is part of the female majority on campus.

She came to Lincoln to pursue an ecology major structured in a way she could not find anywhere else.

The 19-year-old, a keen skier and swim tutor, wants to work in the outdoors, though is yet undecided whether that will be with flora or fauna.

She is also a Global Challenges scholar, part of a programme to encourage students to tackle major issues such as food security for a growing world population.

She has enjoyed her time at Lincoln and has had a diverse range of studies and field trips so far.

“It’s a laid-back place,” she says.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor International and Business Development, Jeremy Baker, says it is a good sign for the land-based sectors which Lincoln serves that the student body make-up represents the wider population.

“We are attracting an increasingly diverse range of talented people to meet the needs of those sectors.

“We are also trying to attract more people from urban backgrounds, to let them see there are exciting opportunities in the land-based rural sectors,” he says.

SchoolsLinc Programme Manager Fiona Scott, who works with schools to show them what Lincoln has to offer, says the figures could reflect a few trends.

“I think there is more exposure in the media for girls to notice and relate to, and more female science teachers are also encouraging girls to try areas they might not have considered.”

Female numbers are also higher in the agricultural courses Lincoln is well known for.

The Telford campus which specialises in agricultural training has gone from having a roll comprised of 16 per cent females in 2010 to 50 per cent in 2015.

“I think female students are realising that working on the farm involves more than lugging bales of hay, or getting up at 4am to milk cows,” Fiona says.

ENDS

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