For the first time in its history, the California Institute of Technology has a freshman class with more women students than men. According to their admissions data, CalTech’s class of 2028 consists of 113 women and 109 men.
Originally founded in 1891, Caltech did not admit women students until the 1970s. Furthermore, it took the institution until 1993 to have a graduating class consisting of more than 25 percent women. Despite these disparities, the current six-year graduation rate for undergraduate women at Caltech is 93 percent, 2 percentage points higher than the rate for undergraduate men.
In recent years, Caltech has made strides in improving the experiences of its women students and fostering their future success by establishing specialized affinity groups, counseling services, and mentoring resources. Additionally, Caltech has focused on creating women-focused recruitment efforts to engage with prospective students. One of the institution’s most successful initiatives is their Women in STEM program, an overnight summer program for high school students who identify as women, nonbinary, or other underrepresented gender identities. According to the institution, multiple women undergraduates have cited the Women in STEM program as a positive influence on their decision to attend Caltech.
“Caltech aims to be the destination of choice for the most talented, creative individuals from every background and perspective, and to build a community where everyone can reach their full potential,” said Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum. “Our ability to remain a top research and educational institution crucially depends on finding and attracting gifted students, postdocs, and faculty. Achieving gender equity in the same year that we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of our first graduating class of undergraduate women is especially resonant.”