On October 2, 2011, the Chronicle of Higher Education online published an article by Robert B. Smith entitled Saving the Lost Boys of Higher Education
This article created mixed reactions within me and I feel the need to discern why. The author talks about how in this generation of educated women, with numbers stronger than ever before, there is an opposite consequence of underachieving males. The consequences of such a situation are, and will be “dire”.
First, I wonder what the motivation of the author is in writing this piece in the first place. Are the concerns really that great? I don’t want to seem insensitive, but I believe I was unaware that there was a crisis of underachievement in men.
The author warns in his last paragraph that we need to beware of the either/or thinking, but as a woman, I feel a little either/or-ed out. Why is it that my generation of women, in it’s broad educational advancement and achievement is part of the reason that men are now apparently underachieving? Why can't our achievement stand on its own? This article made me think of the “Crisis Crisis in Higher Education” article by Birnbaum and Shushok which we read for class. Is this just another cry of “wolf” ? Is it really a crisis or is there an agenda here?
One thing I agree with is that political correctness is a driving force in our country and specifically in higher education. While I want to believe that political correctness came from a desire to want to use language that did not cause additional pain to someone who has experienced oppression, I believe that this movement has become a tool of censorship in keeping genuine thought (albeit controversial or offensive) from being discussed in an open forum. This article surprised me for that reason. While I don’t agree with the author's premise (or need more information to be persuaded), I admire his courage to speak against the dominant culture of political correctness.
I am quite sure I don’t fit with the majority of higher education on this issue. While I am well trained and well versed on the correct language to use, and do so in the hope that I can still have a discussion and not trigger someone else, I am not a fan of what political correctness has become. I believe that political correctness is now a set of thought guidelines that punish the uninformed and inarticulate and is opposite of the mission of higher education.
But I can’t completely believe that the culture of political correctness is a cause in the underachievement of males. I have heard arguments that teachers now focus so diligently on historically underrepresented groups that males, specifically white males are therefore ignored. If the overall thinking in our PC world of education is an either/or way of thinking, I can see why this will become a “dire” situation. But how much of the responsibility at all levels of the education system are on the student? How much is on the teacher? Whose responsibility is it to make sure that it is not an either/or culture?
This author wants White House intervention on this issue and I believe in order to get the White House to intervene, we need to frame this issue as a crisis. While I have concerns about the issue, I don’t see it as at the level of crisis that would move me to act right now. I believe that we need to overhaul K-12 education in this country, which will therefore advance higher education and hopefully close any achievement gaps which still remain, but I believe that the responsibility lies with everyone involved in the system.
Meloni, I really liked your ideas here, and there are many articles that discuss underachievement from both sides, males and females. I think that the main ideas are that men and women learn different, always have and always will, no matter what level you look at. However, the problem is the educational world is so data driven that when numbers come that state that men are achieving higher than women in science and math, then we need to figure out a way to close the gap on women "underachievement" in those subject matters. However, it seems that men are graduating at a less percentage than women are, and men have a decreasing number of enrollment in college, so we need to figure out why that is and see how and why men are "underachieving" in school as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI have different opinions on this, based upon some readings that I have done. There are pros and cons to everything, but I think if in the public educational sector in K-12, if you divide coed schools into putting males in all male classes and females in all female classes (just in their core classes, coed ed would be music, art, theatre, lunch, pe, etc), then there would be an increase in both genders because there isn't that "impress" factor happening within the classrooms. Therefore, I believe, male enrollment in colleges would then increase, and females scores would increase in science and math because there can be focus on struggling ideas.
Problems with this would include gender segregation in the classes, could male teachers only teach male classes, various expectations in classes from the male and female side, and is it fair and equal to be able to divide a public school by gender?
A lot of these views began during the 60's and 70's when a majority of teachers were females, so the argument is that if there were more men teachers, then male test scores would increase. But back then, the push was for more females to go to school, and to college, to increase the female workforce. So, by pushing for more women, the struggles that was seen with them back then there is reason to argue that the same struggles that males are going through now. In my opinion, if we in higher education can focus on getting the enrollment rates more equal, then the problem can be somewhat resolved, but there needs to be a reason why there are "lost boys" and how we can get them "found."
I think you hit on the key issues here. Yes, the current college-going rates among males maybe problematic for numerous reasons. However, by comparing the college-going rate of males to females suggests that one is ahead of the other. This suggests elements of a zero-sum game with the benefits of one group coming at the expense of the other. An example of thinking in binaries. What bothers me is that this was not considered a crisis when the rates at which females went to college compared less favorably. There is a good article about how some schools are trying to address the 'problem':
ReplyDeletehttp://journals.naspa.org/jsarp/vol48/iss1/art3/
I"m so glad you posted this Meloni, what an interesting article. I actually take issue with the Chronicle's article on the point he makes about the horror of men having to stay home and take care of the kids.
ReplyDeleteHe states (about men staying home while their partners have successful careers in medicine): "But if he struggled in academics, dropped out of high school, and resents his wife's power and prestige, it will be a raw deal for all involved." For years, women have (and still do) never been given permission to resent their partner's "power and prestige." Women who are married to powerful or successful men are generally expected to be grateful that they have someone to "take care of them."
Meloni, I agree with your point that it shouldn't be either/or. No group needs to gain advantage at the expense of others. I think it is important to recognize that many students need assistance in getting through school. We should be encouraging the academic success of all.
I do not believe that, should a man be the one to stay home and raise children, the world will in disarray.
While I agree that the topic at hand is not a crisis, it is in fact an issue. The numbers support that there are more females than males enrolling in higher education institutions, and they are graduating at a higher rate. The reasons for this are vast and at this point are difficult to identify. However, it should at least be considered an issue. As far as the issue concerning white males, there do seem to be some disadvantages facing them in today's world. It appears many take a "you got this, you're a white male" approach. In reality, the group still requires the same support structures and challenge that any other group requires.
ReplyDeleteI applaud Meloni's taking on a hot-button issue like this with a rather contrarian stance. I agree with her, DK, Matt, and Margaret that defining declining male college enrollment as an undifferentiated "crisis" is misleading. However, I agree with Jason this issue is complicated -much more so than maybe strident supporters of either side of the discussion are willing to concede.
ReplyDeleteAfter studying numerous articles on the issue myself (including Matt and Professor Tamara Yakaboski's excellent examination of the issue from a legalistic perspective that Matt links to above), it seems to be the issue can currently be crystallized to some salient points:
1. Over the last century, college enrollment has increased dramatically for BOTH men and women. Since around 1980, the pendelum has shifted from male dominance to about a 60-40% overall advantage for females.
2. Women are nowadays enrolling at higher rates than men virtually across the board: Across race, ethnicity, socioeconomic categories, types of institutions, and also at the masters, doctoral, and professional levels.
3. Among more affluent and caucasian categories, the female/male differential is less than for minorities and lower socioeconomic groups. Also, the rate of female/male enrollment divergence overall has noticiably slowed in recent years. And with overall college enrollment up for both sexes, one may reasonably ask, "what crisis?"
4. Among minorities and lower socioeconomic groups, however, this issue can justifiably be termed a "crisis" in my opinion. Consider...
5. As male college enrollment compared to females since 1980 has declined, so has the economy in favor of females. The shift from more of a labor-intensive to a service/ information-oriented economy now requires college education-related skills and social training more than ever before. This now global economic transformation emphasizes female-related skills and abilities like communication, language facility, cooperative learning, nuturing, and the like. Meanwhile, traditional male blue collar jobs like manufacturing, construction and farming are declining or vanishing altogether.
6. Also paralleling the declining in relative male college enrollment are skyrocketing rates of male incarceration, as well increasing rates of households with children without a male figure present.
7. Mirroring the transformation of the economy have been changes in our educational systems that favor more sit-down study and testing, and language and cultural learning applications. While males share and even excel to some extent in these abilities, they also seem to generally have a harder time adjusting to the way our schools mainly teach such skills. Thus, boys are diagnosed with behavioral disorders from kindergarten more so than females overall, and correspondingly given more medication and discipline in order to correct their "problem".
8. Minority and lower socioeconomic groups have struggled more than white, more affluent groups in adjusting to these changes. With fewer college-educated role models, the increasing costs of college, and a common male ethos that devalues to some extent college-related sensibilities, minority and lower socioeconomically raised males end up joining the military. Or competing for fewer blue collar job openings. Or working fast food or other low paying jobs with little future prospects. Or they live at home watching sports or playing video games. Or/and do crime and drugs. And apart from the military, contributing little to their families and communities.
Until national and international socioeconomic trends change, I believe men -particularly men from lower socioeconomic levels- need to be persuaded and properly prepared to enter and make the most of college and its many benefits. Some particularly informative references on this issue can be found at: http://www.judithkleinfeld.com/ar_nomap.html , and: http://www.boysproject.net/papers/The_State_of_American_Manhood.pdf