According to a new analysis, women account for only 25% of University Challenge contestants.
According to The Times Only 17 of the 64 competitors who appeared in the BBC2’s current series, which began July 1, were women. This is a 27% drop.
Although this figure is still very low, it is comparable to the record 27% set in the series which began in 2018.
University Challenge was broadcasted on ITV for the first time in 1962. It is currently in its 51st series. There have been questions about its gender diversity. Host Jeremy Paxman asked the following question when introducing the final of University Challenge 2015. “Why on earth are there no women left in this stage of the competition” What is the best way to get started?
In contrast, women have been present in the show for around 20% in all other years. The lowest point was in 2011, which saw 15% of the audience being female.
Since 2011, St Andrews, Fife has entered five men’s-only teams, while Durham, Imperial, and York have entered four. There have been three teams from Exeter, Manchester, and UCL.
An all-female team was not entered into the 2021 series. It came from Peterhouse, Cambridge, and it was the only one that had been entered between 2017 and 2020.
According to the BBC, The TimesIt tried to encourage more women to participate, but it had no control over the selection of contestants.
A spokesperson said: “We will always do everything we can to encourage more women to take part as contestants. While the make-up of each team is ultimately decided by the university it represents, we encourage all teams who apply to reflect the diversity of their student population, and we will continue to look at how we can work with universities to help them with this.”
Rose McKeown, part of the winning team from St John’s College, Cambridge, which won the 2016-17 series, added that online abuse was one reason why women avoided the program.
“The most obvious one is, unfortunately, the hostility that some female contestants are subjected to on social media,” She told The Mail on Sunday. “But also there may be an issue with women underestimating themselves.”
Hannah Rose Woods, captain of the 2015-16 winning team from Peterhouse, Cambridge, also blamed a difference in men’s and women’s confidence. “General knowledge has deeply gendered connotations: if you’ve grown up being told that something isn’t ‘for’ someone like you, it’s hard not to internalize that logic,” She spoke.
indy100 For more information, he contacted BBC