College course shutouts disproportionately impact women

The inability to enroll in desired college courses has an especially adverse impact on women. New research finds that women lose 1.7 cumulative credits for every course shutout in their first semester, while shutouts lower their overall GPAs. Each shutout also lowers graduation rates for women by 5%, while men have no effects. “This difference is economically substantial,” the report notes. “Women who experience course shutouts earn worse grades, take longer to graduate, and are less likely to choose a major in a STEM field.” Only around 20% of engineering or computer science majors are women, who make up about 35% of the STEM workforce.