That's according to a survey by the American Institute of Physics, which found that from 1994 to 1998, women made up just 17 percent of the nation's college graduates who received bachelor's degrees in physics. From 1994 to 1998, only 20 colleges reported that women amounted to 40 percent or more of their graduates earning B.A.'s in physics.
Of course, it didn't necessarily take a slew of female graduates for a college to land on the top-20 list. To be considered for the list, a college had to have graduated only five physics majors; if two were female, the college made the list.
The list also excluded the country's roughly 75 women's colleges, which grant about 5 percent of the physics B.A.'s awarded to women.
With those caveats, here are the 20 colleges that made the institute's list:
Baylor University
Belmont University
Catholic University of America
Dickinson College
Dillard University
Drew University
Fisk University
Fordham University
Gordon College (Mass.)
Grambling State University
Hiram College
Jackson State University
Lincoln University (Pa.)
Mary Washington College
Southern University (La.)
Tougaloo College
University of Denver
University of Michigan at Dearborn
University of Minnesota at Morris
Xavier University of Louisiana
Copyright © 2001 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
Section: Short Subjects
Page: A9