more women than men to be priested

Times Online - Newspaper Edition"Next year the official projection of the Church of England’s planned ordinations is 124 women and 123 men."

This is interesting since I have long smiled quietly to myself as I reflected that the congregations in front of me were usually about 60% female [or more] and yet most of the leadership were male. The Times seems to regard this as a bad thing judging by the weight of it's quotes.

I would question the bit that tells us "As the number of women priests has increased, so has the proportion of women attending church. Church researchers say that the 45% to 55% male to female split in parish congregations 10 years ago has now shifted to a 37% to 63% split in favour of women." Because studies I was aware of as well as occasional checking up have tended to reveal the proportion given as the recent one as persisting for the last 20 years at least. SO I would need to see the figures but I think that it may not be accurate in the terms presented.

Of course the bigger question is why church has been relatively unattractive to men or proportionally more so to women. I also have a hunch that in alt.worship it may not be so. And if that is right there's another question as to why. I'd love to hear other views on this.