The Boys are Falling Behind
This is Nicholas D. Kristof, writing about a new book, “Why Boys Fail,” by Richard Whitmire:
- The average high school grade point average is 3.09 for girls and 2.86 for boys. Boys are almost twice as likely as girls to repeat a grade.
- Boys are twice as likely to get suspended as girls, and three times as likely to be expelled.
- Among whites, women earn 57 percent of bachelor’s degrees and 62 percent of master’s degrees; among blacks, the figures are 66 percent and 72 percent.
- In federal writing tests, 32 percent of girls are considered “proficient” or better; for boys, the figure is 16 percent.
Looks ominous for the boys.
Is this the result of feminism? Or thinking of “women” as a discriminated-against minority?
I would argue that there are certain aspects of lower-middleclass male culture that look upon the type of work that college prepares you for as “unmanly.” The problem is that the traditional types of work lower-middleclass men used to engage in (i.e. manufacturing) have mostly moved off-shore.
Also, in some cases young males may expect to have little interest in school simply because they expect to enter the contraction trades, such as carpentry, tile or plumbing.
The notion that everyone has to get a college degree is a little misguided.
When black women college graduates out number the men by more than two to one, there are social and cultural consequences — not the least of which is finding suitable marriage partners. I don’t believe anyone has really looked at this problem very closely. But I suspect it is a big problem.
There is another very good book that addresses this topic entitled, “Boys Adrift,” by Leonard Sax. He is the director of an organization that advocates single sex public education. He argues that boys and girls have different learning styles and different timing of brain development, especially when they are very young. But the public schools are geared towards a learning environment for girls.
I tend to agree with Devon and Pam.
It’s great that girls are doing better in math and science, but it’s better to raise proficiency for both sexes rather than talk about their differences.
Here’s my observational two cents worth: Modern schools operate in a way that seems designed to drive boys crazy.
The books assigned for school readings are uninteresting tracts and the lessons taught are often anti-men, anti-activism, and anti-honor. The school days are filled with busywork, theory rather than hands-on tinkering, and general nonsense. Many boys hate coloring, preferring three dimensional fun with things like legos. Schools color. Plus, physical activity during the school day is limited.
The average girl is far more willing to endure stupid busywork nonsense with no physical release than the average boy. And enduring stupid nonsense is, increasingly, what success in school is all about. Boys refuse to put up with the nonsense and drop out in droves.
Finally, the push to force girls into science and math is virtually overwhelming at the high school level. Kids successful at science and math are treated with great respect. Many girls who aren’t especially talented at it go along, even though they don’t particularly like it. Whether as a group they will ultimately be able to compete at the professional level with men who do like it is an open question.
I’ve had personal experience with discrimination against men in science. It is blatant and not pretty. For example, one university dean was perfectly willing to consider hiring a male scientist, someone who was internationally known and tops in his field, but only if his wife had an engineering degree and was hired first.
Linda is also right. Who wants to spend their days doing busywork? I wish I had had the nerve to stand up against the TASS (now TAKS) test when I was in high school. It was a waste of time to study for that awful test.
And who is the test supposed to measure? For the really smart kids, you waste their time making them study for it and take the test. The middle-of-the-road kids sort of bumble through, and the bottom levels struggle and either take a simplified test or fail outright.
In retrospect, I’m a little ashamed that I have taken so many standardized tests in my life. How many times do I need my aptitude measured before I have a reliable estimate of how much I can accomplish?
We do our kids a disservice by not providing adequate learning opportunities.