Where have all the Boys Gone?

Where have all the boys gone?

The sixties was a time of minority rebellion and new-found freedoms—not just racially but gender wise as well as women were encouraged to seek education and career opportunities to establish equality with men (the great increase in college enrollment during the sixties was as much due to female enrollment as it was to the baby boomers). And with this came new federal and state regulations that provided set asides (EEO) for these minorities (notice that being female is considered a minority according to the law even though females outnumber males). Title VII in athletics is just one example where major schools must have as many sports and female athletes as they have male sports and athletes even though in most cases fewer females wish to be involved in athletics at the college level.

The number of women enrolled in undergraduate classes outnumber men on campus by over 2 million (men make up only 42% of US college students) and on some campuses the proportion of female students exceeds 60%. Men, whatever their racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic group are less likely than their female counterparts to graduate with a college degree, and among those that do, fewer complete their degrees in less than five years. Women now earn the majority of diplomas in fields men used to dominate—science and business and now match men in professional degrees (law, medicine) up from 22% a generation ago. Women now earn over half of all business degrees, up from one-third in 1980. Women in most campuses are walking away with a disproportionate share of honors degrees.

It appears to my lowly eye that women have not just reached equilibrium with males at the collegiate and post-graduate level but have in many cases have far surpassed them. So much so that one critic indicates, “one has to be concerned about what is happening to men.” Men are not enrolling or completing college programs with the same urgency as women. Already, Afro-American and Hispanic female college graduates are finding it difficult to find similar college educated men to date and marry of their own background. It has reached crisis proportions. Will it become similar for all women? The trends, alarming as they are, say inevitably yes.

For several years, I have attended and presented at a local Middle School award program. After three years, a pattern has emerged. In Sixth grade , 4 out of top 10 are boys, by seventh grade it is down to 2, and by 8th grade only one boy was in the top ten. Need more proof? Look at high school valedictorians and salutatatorians, the far majority are females. Check out the proportions in top ten of any high school class and in very few will you find proportions lower than 2:1 female to male.

What to do about all this? First, it appears that any legal advantages provided to women (note the notorious: “Women and minorities especially encouraged to apply” often seen in job advertisements) should be dismantled. Feminists will decry this but the facts speak for themselves . . . being over-represented on campuses they do not need to be further encouraged with favoritism. (In June, Indiana University hosted a group of young women as it launches a new program designed to encourage careers in business. About 30 students from around the country will participate in the Young Women's Institute—perhaps a young men’s institute is needed as well!!) Secondly, research needs to be performed immediately to understand better what has happened to the young males. Perhaps the female-oriented school system culture (sit and be still, speak only when spoken to, etc) needs to be adapted to the different learning styles and energy levels of the young males? Regardless, the trends indicate clearly that more time and attention should be given to young males to succeed academically. Third, multitudes of feminist and women’s studies programs exist in colleges throughout the land, isn’t it about time for an equal number of “Male Studies” Programs be made available to young men?

Where have all the boys gone? It is about time we found out.