Eastern Illinois University in total has more women than men on campus with over 5,000 students being female and over 3,000 students being male according to the IBHE website.

“The percentage of those living on campus reflects the gender breakdown of our enrollment ,” Mark Hudson, executive director of housing and dining said. “EIU has long had a larger female enrollment, often credited to the reality that education has been our largest major and there are more women in that profession than men.”

Men take up 58.2% of the population and men take up 41.8% of the population

With this comes the main reason students overall live on Easterns campus whether they are female or male.

“In a recent survey both men and women residents said that convenience was the primary reason for living on campus,” Hudson said.

The question becomes whether men are just as interested in college or not.

“Another factor is that young men historically have chosen other paths after high school like joining the military or going to trade school at a higher rate than young women,” Justin Tierney, director of enrollment support said.

The academic programs at colleges or universities have changed the percentage of women and men on campus.

Some colleges including Eastern have recently added academic programs like engineering and criminology.

“Those are two fields of study that have historically enrolled a higher percentage of males than females, though that is changing, thanks to very admirable and much-needed efforts to ensure those fields of study are more inclusive to women,” Tierney said. “Also [Eastern] just recently added a four-year nursing program, which, historically, nursing programs have enrolled more females than males,”

The additions to the academic programs will impact female and male demographic over the years to come.

The overall goal has not changed for Easterns diversity and demographics.

“Our goal at EIU is to always attract a diverse community of learners and to support all of our students in an equitable way, no matter their background or who they are as individuals,” Tierney said.

Chandler Smith can be reached at 581-2812 or at cbsmith5@eiu.edu.