Meaning Question [closed]

I have a question related to ielts writing task 1 :

"Male students studying philosophy at University of Cambridge in 2001 totaled 50"

"The number of Male students studying philosophy at University of Cambridge in 2001 totaled 50"

My question : Does the phrase"The number of " make any differences between the meanings of two sentences above"

Other two similar sentences :

"The only field with men holding the same number of positions as women was journalism"

"The only field with men holding the same positions as women was journalism"

Thank you very much for helping me

Take the second example first. If you say 'the same number of positions', the sentence is relatively unambiguous. On the other hand, saying 'the same positions', leaves one wondering: the same in what respect? The positions could be the same in number, but they could be the same in some other respect, such as the titles, responsibilities, pay, influence, opportunities for advancement, etc.; we don't know which of these was intended.

This could, in principle, also be said about the first example. But although the version of that example that omits 'the number of' could be argued to be ambiguous (totaled 50 of what?), in real-life communication one can get away with saying something like that, because in this case, the nature of the subject matter makes it highly unlikely that '50' would be anything other than the number of male students.