Toward the end of the summer, I began to read the book "Why Boys Fail: Saving our sons from an educational system that's leaving them behind" by Richard Whitmire. While I have not finished the book, I was reminded of the key points in the book when I read the Chronicle of Higher Education this week. In the October 7, 2011 edition, there are two separate commentary pieces that address the issue of declining enrollments of men in institutions of higher education.

The first commentary, Saving the Lost Boys, identifies the gender split in American higher education, where todays enrollment is split 60/40...60% women and only 40% being men. The second piece (which actually proceeds this other, but I read it second) is titled For Women on Campuses, Access Does not Equal Success, and is about how hard women have to work for their education compared to men and goes into the various characteristics between men and women (admittedly, generalized) and the types of experience each gender seeks out.

At the surface, I am bothered at the notion that there must be some sort of "crisis" to explain why women are "doing better" than men in the pursuit of obtaining a college degree. Is it really so alarming that women are tipping the scales on college campuses? I doubt if the numbers were reversed and men made up 60% while women made up only 40% that we would even be talking about the difference in enrolling students. And I am certain the conversations of how to increase the number of female students would be limited to select womens organizations. It certainly would not be considered a crisis. But, not to worry, my blog is not intended to be a feminist rant.

What I would like to focus on are the reasons that Whitmire describes in his book as to why there are a declining number of male students in the 21st century. One point is that the style of instruction in the K-12 system is geared more to the strength's of female students. Men/boys tend to thrive in educational environments where there is large amounts of movement, lots of interaction, and a lot of hands-on work. Classrooms, however, are designated to be very structured, with students sitting in small desks that are limiting to gross motor skills like movement; teachers are often frustrated when students do not appear to be focused; and the school day is designed around switching topics every 50 minutes, where boys need more constant changing of gears. More specifically, reading and literacy instruction are blamed for poor performance among boys. We do not allow boys to read what they are most interested in; we live in a world where it is okay to interact via technology and not always in person, which effects interpersonal skills; boys play too many video games; there are not enough male teacher's to motivate make students. The list goes on and on on who and what to blame for this "crisis".

One suggestion is to have gender-specific classrooms. I had been more aware of the benefits this style of instruction provided to female students, leading to an increase n the science, technology, mathematics, and engineering fields of study. While I actually think thiere is some value to this theory in the K-12 setting, I wonder how that would play out then in the college setting. I cant really imagine a basic class geared to only women or only men.

Okay, one more feminist rant. Perhaps one reason for lower male enrollment is that men typically have a higher starting salary in entry-level positions (all positions, really, but for the purposes of this blog, I am speaking of entry-level or work that does not require a college degree). So, while women generally need a college degree to earn a certain wage, men maybe able to earn that wage without a degree. I think the argument than becomes whether or not that income level is sustainable without a college degree. I would argue it is not, but I am not sure an 18 year old male would buy into that argument.