<p>If by “fact” you mean “my misinformed fantasy,” maybe. In factual fact, any way you look at it college attendance for boys has gone up in the last 20 years. </p>
<p>In the 18 years from 1990 to 2008, the percentage of recent male high school graduates enrolling in college went from 58% to 66%, and the absolute number of male college students increased by 2.1 million. Women’s enrollment rate went from 62% to 72% in that period, and their high school graduation rate increased faster than men, too, as did the number of older women returning to higher education, so the number of women in college increased by 4.3 million. In 1990, there were slightly more men in college than women; in 2008 there were 25% more women than men. </p>
<p>And where the difference really shows up is if you look back to 1970. Then, fewer than half of women who graduated from high school went on to college; now it’s almost 3/4ths. A rate of increase of 50%. In the same period, the college enrollment rate for recent male high school graduates went from 55% to 66%, a rate of increase of 20%.</p>
<p>That’s the story. Men’s college enrollment has been growing slowly, and women’s has been growing fast. There hasn’t been any decline in male college attendance, except for some year-to-year blips.</p>
<p>I am not sure it is a stereotype. Male brains are different than female brains–it goes back to caveman days. Men are predisposed to be better at moving objects through space (hunters) and women are predisposed to communication (gatherers). Of course there will be overlap in these areas. In general I would have to say that the “gatherers are at an advantage over the hunters in our modern school system”. Cooperation is more highly valued than competition in the classroom. Girls also produce, on average, better “posters” and visual aids, better communication on their homework, and are much neater! Yes, psychological studies show that neatness is unconsciously rewarded.</p>
<p>Anyway, I am glad females are making their way–such a nice addition to upper level classes! We just need to make sure we show our males that we value them in the classroom as much as we do on the field.</p>
<p>PS. I believe men also make GREAT caring dads. Maybe we, as a society, need to be more open to accepting people for their individual strengths and thus make sure everyone has a fair shot at exploring those.</p>
<p>“Assuming things haven’t changed, there’s not a chance in hell that I would pay full freight for an H&SS major at CMU.”</p>
<p>I suppose each to his own. I feel fine about paying full freight for an econ major taking a number of CS courses, CS internships and getting an MIS. I think for these opportunities available to an H&SS major (that might not be available elsewhere), I can’t imagine another school where we’d get more for our money. Then again, we all differ on what is “worth it” based on any number of threads here.</p>
<p>There has been zero proper research suggesting this. By “proper” I mean double-blind, controlled research.</p>
<p>ALL of the “research” on this topic has to do with ex-post facto surveys in which boys and girls clearly have experienced a large degree of socialization into school. It is the very same type of “research” which used to suggest women could never work or perform at school because they were hysterical and fidgety.</p>
<p>Yep. We used to say girls were more prone to mental illness. Now it’s boys. How times change. I say, let kids be kids and stop attacking boys because they CAN do it. They CAN be great writers. They CAN be peacemakers. They CAN be engineers. Girls CAN too.</p>
<p>Speculation about cavemen is entirely filtered through our own cultural expectations. We have very little evidence to definitively decide pre-historic roles. Though it is possible that men evolved to be bigger because of hunting, it might be entirely due to sexual selection (many animals have secondary sex characteristics that apparently evolved only for the purpose of attracting a mate, and males of some species, herbivore, are only larger to fight against one another).</p>
<p>If you think sewing is not as much of an engineering, spatial, logical feat as putting together a freaking bicycle, you have another thing coming.</p>
<p>In countries where girls are expected to excel in math and engineering, they do. Bulgaria and some other NIS European countries have such statistics. There, women are expected to out-perform men at math and science, and they do. (They also have incentives since they get great maternity leave, but that’s another story.)</p>
<p>But this is not to sing the praises of women. For a very long time, men were expected to outperform women and they did. I believe in equal expectations for children. They deserve it.</p>
<p>That was not to imply, by the way, that you do not sew or put together your kids’ bikes. I have read your other posts and I realize you are a skilled person, mtnmomma, so I just wanted to remind you of all the engineering women have done for ages, and continue to do–when we have time to do so.</p>
<p>“because the last time I looked low-income, black, and Hispanic communities were not exactly hotbeds of radical feminism.”</p>
<p>These communities(not sure of hispanics) are much more likely to be fatherless than the middle and upper class whites and asians. Black illegitimacy rate a whopping 70%.
Not the hotbeds of radical feminism, but surely its worst sufferers. Not hard to see why.</p>
<p>[Alain</a> Soral on Feminism, subtitled. - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>I see many people on this thread are preferring comforting pop psych explanations than acknowledge that there has been a great lowering of expectations all around compared with those who grew up during/before the '40s and '50s. </p>
<p>If anyone offered such pop psych explanations to excuse boys for not being able to sit still, complete their assignments, turn in their homework, etc…it’d not only be regarded as absurd…but also nothing more than poor attempts to excuse their boy’(s’)inability to meet expectations. </p>
<p>I was one of those boys in first grade during the '80s…and neither my parents nor my neighbors would tolerate any continuation of such behavior when it was pointed out by the teachers…especially those in Catholic parochial schools. I was expected to shape up or else like all of the other girls and boys in my old neighborhood when this issue came up. And my parents were far gentler than another rambunctious boy whose father was a former Air Force officer…</p>
<p>True, but in our generation and our parents’, women could, too – in secretarial positions. But with the computerization of office work, the need for employees whose only skills are typing and shorthand has vanished. </p>
<p>On the other hand, the need for jobs in which young men sell their physical strength has not vanished, and perhaps it never will.</p>
<p>I think that for some young people – particularly those who do not like school or for whom college would be a financial hardship – the question is “Can I earn a decent living, right now, without further education?” Men are more likely to be able to answer “yes” to this question and therefore may be more likely to opt out of college.</p>
We absolutely must.</p>