The number of women enrolling in higher education is
exceeding the number of men. “Nationally, the female-to-male ratio in higher
education is roughly 60 to 40 percent” (Smith, 2011). The argument being that men
are being left behind and action should be taken to help them. These studies
conclude that their lack of persistence also equates to ability to achieve. There is a counter argument that their ability
has not shrunk simply their presence and that affirmative action for men would
only be a setback for the progress that women have made.
"Beyond
the availability of dance partners for the winter formal, gender balance
matters in ways both large and small on a residential college campus. Once you
become decidedly female in enrollment, fewer males and, as it turns out, fewer
females find your campus attractive," Britz wrote, the President of Kenyon College (Jaschik, 2006). Kenyon College has adopted an
affirmative action for men in the admissions process. A point brought up in
this article argues that a “lopsided gender ratio in enrollments can make it
more difficult to comply with Title IX in athletics” (Jaschik, 2006). Smith
argues that it will lead to a troubled country and confusion of gender roles:
“Ultimately, it could lead to a country in which millions of
young men live with their parents and work lousy jobs with few or no benefits,
and in which a class of highly educated, professionally engaged women is
expected to support underemployed husbands.”
There
system seems to lack balance. The real stem of the argument is what is
contributing to that imbalance. Scholars cannot seem to agree on this topic. If
there is truly a boy crisis and we leave the issue unaddressed we will have a
problem on our hands. This will be a problem of an uneducated portion of the population
and even more confusing gender roles.
A
report from the AAUW stated “to the extent that there is a problem, the AAUW
argues, it involves subsets of male students, such as inner city minority males
who may attend poor high schools and be poorly prepared for college” (Jaschik,
2006). Another report focuses more on the fact that it is not that men are
doing poorly, just that women are achieving at higher rates than previously
(Matthews, 2006). This issue also stirs up some very uncomfortable topics as
women are still an underrepresented group. To state that males, who are usually
in a position of privilege, are being lost in the education system is not easy
for some to accept.
Resources:
Smith,
R. (October 2, 2011). Saving the 'Lost Boys' of Higher Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education
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