Posted on 06/25/2005 8:33:25 AM PDT by herst1240
Some researchers call them the "Lost Boys." They are young males students you don't see on college campuses. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) tracks the enrollment in all degree-granting institutions by sex. From 1992 to 2000, the ratio of enrolled males to females fell from 82 to 78 boys for every 100 girls. The NCES projects that in 2007 the ratio will be 75 males for every 100 females; in 2012, 74 per 100. In short, your son is statistically more likely than your daughter to work a blue collar job.
Thomas Mortenson, senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, argues that leaving a generation of boys behind hurts women as well. In a Business Week cover story, Mortenson observed, "My belief is that until women decide that the education of boys is a serious issue, nothing is going to happen."
He believes some women feel threatened by even admitting the problem because "it will take away from the progress of women...What everyone needs to realize is that if boys continue to slide, women will lose too."
That realization still seems distant among educational experts, who continue to downplay the NCES statistic as well as other data that indicate schools are hurting boys.
Jacqueline King -- author of the influential study "Gender Equity in Higher Education: Are Male Students at a Disadvantage?" -- is an example. She found that 68 percent of college enrollees from low-income families were female; only 31 percent were male.
Yet King insists there is no "boy crisis" in education despite the fact that data from Upward Bound and Talent Search show a comparable gender gap. (These college-preparation programs operate in high schools and received $312.6 million $144.9 million in tax funding, respectively, in 2005.) Of the students who receive benefits from those college-preparation programs, approximately 61 percent are girls; 39 percent are boys.
King's quoted explanation of the gender gaps: "women make up a disproportionate share of low-income students" who go on to college. Since low-income families presumably give birth to boys in the same ratio as the general population-- worldwide the ratio is between 103 to 107 boys for every 100 girls -- why are so few boys applying for assistance? A higher drop-out rate might be partly responsible, or boys may have no interest in higher education.
King comments on the latter explanation: "male low-income students have some ability in this strong economy to make a decent living with just a high-school diploma." In particular, she points to the construction industry.
King may be correct. The fact that low-income boys gravitate toward manual labor may account for some of the educational gender disparity. What is striking, however, is her apparent dismissal of that disparity as important. She seems to accept the reality that far fewer men than women enroll in college and that poor boys enter "the trades" while poor girls become professionals.
Imagine the gender ratio being reversed, with 78 girls for every 100 boys entering college. Imagine a generation of poor girls being relegated to low social status labor while tax funding assists poor boys. It is difficult to believe King would be similarly unconcerned.
Nevertheless, merely by acknowledging the situation, King shows far more balance than prominent voices, like the American Association of University Women, which still maintains there is a "girl crisis."
Fortunately, researchers like Judith Kleinfeld of the University of Alaska see that boys are in distress.
Kleinfeld -- author of "The Myth That Schools Shortchange Girls" -- states, "In my own college classes, I see a sea change in the behavior of young men. In the 1980s, the young men talked in my classes about the same as young women. I know because each semester I measured male and female talk. Now so many young men are disengaged that the more articulate, ambitious women dominate the classroom ....and my office hours."
Kleinfeld tried to trace the problem backward by interviewing high school students on plans for their future. She states, "The young women almost always have a clear, realistic plan---go to college, have a career, often directed toward an idealistic goals about improving the environment."
This clarity of vision and was generally absent in young men.
Among those who acknowledge the "boy crisis," explanations are vary and may all be true. Some point to the "feminization" of education over the last decade, which occurred largely in response to a perceived need to encourage girls. But, if boys and girls learn differently, then the changes may be placing boys at a disadvantage.
Others point to explicitly anti-male attitudes -- that is, political correctness -- within education. The website Illinois Loop lists "22 School Practices That May Harm Boys." One of them: "'Modern' textbooks and recommended literature often go to extremes to remove male role models as lead characters and examples."
Kleinfeld points speculatively to the impact of increased divorce and fatherless homes on the self-image of boys who lack a positive male role-model.
Approximately 40 percent of American children now live in homes without their own biological father.
Ultimately, explanations of and solutions to the "boy crisis" will come from exploring a combination of factors. My solution: privatize education and place it under the control of parents or adult students.
The first step to any solution, however, is to acknowledge there is a problem. We are not quite there yet.
As a mom of five boys, this issue really concerns me. In fact, it's one of the things that's pushing me towards homeschooling them.
Don't get me wrong...I've got nothing against girls (I am one, after all, heh heh), but I do believe that boys do learn differently than girls...that children as INDIVIDUALS learn differently. If I want my boys to succeed, it seems that taking their education into my own hands seems like a very good option.
Maybe you can find a school that has a trampoline in the classroom.
This is just pre-marketing (so to speak) ... when Anoreth is 18, I'll be a real threat!
yes.
university-educated feminists control the american news media. if anyone thinks otherwise, try to get a counter view published.
Looked at in purely economic terms, you're probably right. But, if you have grand-daughters, take a look at my post 31.
If the parents can afford a good state school (as I can), college is an excellent idea for girls.
I teach university-level history, and over half my students are male. FYI
BWHAHAHA! The "Wear 'em out first" approach to educating boys!
Works with other stuff, why not the three "R"'s?
If my oldest son won't sit still for school work, I send him out to run around the block a few times (weather permitting). The trampoline is backup. He does his best work when he's exhausted. My second son is sluggish, so I make him exercise to wake up.
It is quite straightforward:
1) Blacks are inherently more deserving than whites.
2) Females are inherently more deserving than males.
3) Gays are inherently more deserving than straights.
4) Racism, sexism, and homophobia are the primary ills of society.
Therefore, the feminization of college campuses is officially a good thing, and those nasty little male proto-oppressor college student-wannabes will just have to learn their place.
I forgot that you homeschool your children. At least, I think I remember that, now. If I am STILL wrong, please let me know, lol. (Though I remember how cute they all are. :))
Yes, I homeschool (with mixed success - everyone's doing remedial math this summer, between camps :-).
My oldest sometimes gets up in the middle of the night to jump on the trampoline. He'd have to be shackled to sit still at a desk all day. If you can find a school that lets boys get the exercise they need, they'd probably do fine. Maybe an all-boys school, if such a thing exists. Otherwise, there's a lot to be said for the ability to say, "Bill, you're driving me nuts! Go out and run until you're tired enough to concentrate!"
Last semester, I was in a class of 15 people. I was the only guy in there.
Other classes average around 70% women.
My 8-year-old wants to go to military school. I told him we'd consider it when he's 13, if we come into a lot of money :-).
"Now, they are going to make more money in the short-term than she who has a college degree. However, she will make more in the long run with the M.S. degree. "
I feel you are actually making my point here ...
the solution to getting a high-wage job often is not LESS education, but more. And the claims that the trades can give you a high wage miss the point that the wage tops our earlier than in other careers. In the long run, you need to be a business owner and/or manager and/or high-level knowledge worker to make more than average wage.
If you know at 18 exactly how you will succeed without college, fine, go for it. But that is not the case for most 18-year-old. Most people skipping College are condemning themselves to low-wage jobs, and the statistics prove it.
Those arguing against college are arguing against law of averages w.r.t. the benefits of education.
"a college education "ain't what it used to be"."
Yes, but the same is true of course of a High School education.
If it is true that ..." What our colleges/universities used to teach within the confines of a bachelor's degree has been watered down so much," ... then it is also true High School alone won't cut it.
This ... "We have kids in our technology high school coming out of our graphic design program knowing the software necessary to get a job making $20-25/hour at the minimum."
... may be true, but is likely the exception rather than the rule, and *really* shows that *specific* skills and knowledge in education beats the generalized nonsense that passes for education these days. Some of that specific skills learning can happen outside traditional education, but a LOT of it (programming, engineering, math, sciences, doctor, lawyer, accountant, teacher, etc.) requires college.
While a watered-down BA in Liberal indoctrination and ethnic-multicultural claptrap is hardly marketable skills, the college student has the responsibility to make the most of the time spent in the classroom. Getting a nursing, engineering, business, etc., degree will give dividends.
"business and industry have demanded more learning/training"
That is the bottom line. I have a PhD and I still need to be learning new things every day to avoid becoming obsolete.
If you are in a job that doesnt demand that of you, you can expect low-wage competition from any of: other unedereducated folks (immigrants), outsourcing, and/or automation.
"The disappearing male, let's be a bit more specific, how about the disappearing white male. I was recently told by several law professors, that for me to be competitive for acceptance to any law program, I would need to be in the top 25% for LSAT and GPA, because I am straight, white, and male.
My generation of white males has been getting the shaft now because of crimes we never were able to commit. This injustice continues to be expanded by liberals, and racists around the United States. What these groups fail to realize is, that my generation of white males will not sit idly by and watch this continue, there will be a backlash."
Hear, hear to that.
Reverse discrimination is still discrimination. And the way men are treated in academia reminds me of the country song: "She got the goldmine, I got the shaft!"
LOL! Maybe you've got a future officer on your hands, eh? :)
The thing about military schools that really bugs me is that most of them (from what I have seen, anyway) are boarding schools. I'm not so wild about THAT idea. Especially since I know what kind of mischief my boys get up to when they are under my nose...I can only imagine what he'd be doing away from home!
*shudder*
I wonder if there are any stats on the effects of a boarding/military school on a boy's education? I know that many military schools end up with about 90+% of their graduates going on to college. I'll have to see if there is a breakdown on that by gender, as well. I would presume that since most folks that can afford to send their kids to a boarding school could also afford college, that's really not an issue there, either.
Ah, to be rich, lol. :) (Money wise, that is.)
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