Why are most University Challenge contestants white men?

Watching the often testosterone-fuelled Oxbridge elite engage in a battle of the intellects under the watchful eye of Jeremy Paxman has its charm for about a minute.

By Josie Cox

Ok eggheads, here’s your starter for ten. How many female contestants are taking part in this year’s season of University Challenge?

Twenty-eight, you say, representing just a quarter of all players? Then you’ve earned yourself a set of bonuses on the dire lack of diversity on one of the UK’s most iconic quiz shows, and its dismal misrepresentation of the admirably heterogeneous nature of our higher education community. Ready? Fingers on buzzers.