About 60% of Baking & Pastry students at the CIA are women. My guess is that the women tend to lean more towards opening bakeries and pastry shops of their own, while the men prefer the atmosphere of the kitchen. We had a few women from my Culinary Arts group transfer to Baking & Pastry because they physically couldn't handle the demands of service, whether they weren't fast enough or not strong enough or not coordinated enough. Men are generally more suited for demanding physical environments, and if you don't think so or are offended, compare women's athletics to mens. It's fact. I think it's the same when deciding whether to go into a high-stress, time based kitchen environment vs. opening a bakeshop.