The End of Boys

A trend we've followed for a long time is the End of Men.  This refers to a growing set of data and trends indicating that men are not as well equipped for the demands and stresses of modern society as women.

Because we don't really think men are going to disappear anytime soon, we prefer to call this trend The Rise of Women, and we call their growing economic impact It's a She-conomy.  

But regardless of what you call it, one of the major drivers of this trend is women are greatly outpacing men educationally.  For example, close to 60% of today's college students are women.

But it's not just college.  Women are outperforming men starting in elementary school.  David Brooks New York Times column Honor Code nicely summarizes the problems of boys at school.  Key quote:

"By 12th grade, male reading test scores are far below female test scores ... 11th-grade boys are now writing at the same level as 8th-grade girls. Boys used to have an advantage in math and science, but that gap is nearly gone."

It's not just the U.S.  According the article "boys are falling behind not just in the U.S., but in all 35 member-nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development."

The reason for the educational decline of boys?  Brooks says:

"The information age rewards people who mature early, who are verbally and socially sophisticated, who can control their impulses. Girls may, on average, do better at these things."

Prior to the Atlantic article The End of Men, we used to get a lot of push back on this trend.  The good news is there is growing recognition that men are struggling with our educational system and the struggles start when they are boys.

Comments

[Mark Sherman]

Thought you might be interested to know that I wrote a piece called "The End of Boys," which I posted on my Psychology Today blog on December 15, 2011 (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/real-men-dont-write-blogs/201112/the-end-boys)
and then on the Good Men Project on June 22, 2012 (http://goodmenproject.com/ethics-values/the-end-of-boys/)

Thanks for your concern over this longstanding problem, which has not yet gotten the attention it deserves.

I edit a blog which looks at the struggles boys have and what might be done to help.
(https://theboysinitiative.wordpress.com/)