The recently-completed Office of Residential Life's Undergraduate Adviser selection process resulted in a nearly equal percentage of jobs offered to men and women, although many fewer men applied for UGA spots than did women.
Out of the 219 students who completed the application process, 85 were men and 134 were women. Of the 151 UGA jobs offered, 59 went to men and 92 went to women.
These numbers constitute a 69.4 percent acceptance rate for men and a 68.7 acceptance rate for women.
According to ORL, the closeness of these rates is merely coincidental. "The fact that it's this close this year -- I don't know what to say about that, we do not set specific percentages for men and women," Keira Kant, assistant director of Residential Education and chair of the UGA Selection Committee, said.
But if even one more male were hired instead of a female, or vice-versa, the difference between acceptance rates could be as much as 2.7 percent -- which is notably higher than this year's 0.7 percent difference.
Kant affirmed, however, that the similar rates were not planned. "We do not set any percentages to fill gender, and we are looking to hire the best person to work for us," Kant said.
Current UGAs concurred with Kant.
"I don't think that ORL would compromise the quality of its staff," one UGA said, who requested to remain anonymous. "I can't see them choosing a lesser-qualified male or female candidate over the opposite gender solely to keep percentages equal."
The only time when UGAs are selected for gender purposes is in order to fill a position on a single-gender floor, Kant said.
"When there is a gender-defined floor, we need to hire for that gender."
But the scarceness of single-gender floors on campus makes them an unlikely cause for such similar acceptance rates among men and women.
The UGA selection process includes a written application, a group activity interview, a personal interview and two recommendations.
Having gone through the process herself, Kathryn Strayer-Benton '05 said, "It can seem long, but I think it provides opportunity for candidates to show their strengths in different areas."
The only weakness she cited was ORL having to turn down what she said were many worthy candidates.
"I don't know if that shows a weakness in the system or if it just shows that so many people are applying and capable that they can't accept everyone," Strayer-Benton said.
Capturing the overall feeling regarding another year's UGA selection process, Justin Brownstone '06, a current UGA said, "I think that no interview process is going to be perfect, but they do make a very concerted effort in UGA hiring to get the most full picture of the person as possible."
