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I came across many different websites while I was googling gender and education. I dont see why, but still today many people call gender wars a huge problem. I do agree with them, even in our society today we not only still have some racial problems that exist, but gender and education as well. Looking back to when i was in grades K-12 I do notice where the article I stumbled across is coming from. If you think back to when you were in these grades the boys were always trying to beat the girls, or the other way around. This short paragaph I thought was very intersting in the article:
"Back in 1992, we pointed out that stereotypes have long limited the options of girls and boys. Viewing science and math as things boys did and art and dance as things they did not do influenced the course taking patterns and achievement levels of both sexes. We noted that although girls were getting better grades and going on for post-secondary education in greater numbers than boys, the job segregation that limits women's employment choices and the gender gap in wages continued. This is still the case."
This was a paragrpah from the article that I found very intersting. I feel that it is not so much in college, but I could be wrong. I feel the gender wars take place more along the grade levels of secondary education. The article The Gender Wars in Education also says how this can be a good thing as long as we are all on the same side. This was just one of the articles that I stumbled upon, and I did research this topic more than others. I also was searching videos and I came across one how it talks about how women our perfrom men and more options in the workforce. The video is Women "Out" Perform Men and it jsut talks a little about different successes at Universities in the UK. In class I wish to discuss where More about this topic and if all of the statistics are true.
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13 years ago
I like your post and really enjoyed your articles.
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ReplyDeleteYes, the statistics are true. Girls today have on average better grades, and can assemble more qualified college applications. This is true regardless of race, parent income or state.
ReplyDeleteThe difference is primarily driven by girl's superior scores in reading and writing. In math and science the genders are pretty much even.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/failing-boys/ is a cursory look at the problem, you can hear a lot more discussion of this in the UK, Australia, Sweden and Finland.
Apologies for the double post and my little rant, but it is interesting that you pick Bailey as a voice of reason in this debate. Ironically it was her report that, for better or for worse became the centerpiece of the AAUW's con job on the press and public. At the time there were clear indications that girls had already begun outpacing boys in academics.
ReplyDeleteHowever there was a deliberate misrepresentation of school data that in many people's view exacerbated the problem. They may have had good intentions then, but they dug themselves into a hole that requires that they adamantly defend their conclusions. Even today, despite the mountain of data highlighting the issue, the official AAUW position is that the 'boy problem' is a myth (See Sara Mead's report; tell me if you can read it aloud with a straight face). Oddly their present line of reasoning is that boys have 'always' (all the way back to the late 1970s) done worse than girls, so there's nothing to be worried about.
Yes, there were, and still are issues that disadvantage women in the workplace and in society, and every effort must be made to enable girls in their pursuits, but keeping boys disadvantaged in school isn't the solution.
If you are skeptical and believe this is not hurting boys and young men, take a look at the latest wage statistics. There is a reverse wage gap between unmarried men and women(33% of women) in their twenties, in 47 of 50 urban areas (85% of the US population), with women earning 8% more on average, and up to 21% more in several cities. Sadly I am afraid this is going to stay under the radar for a long time until it suddenly hits us in the face. Then we can all pretend no one saw this coming.
If you are to research this further, I suggest you stay away from news reports because journalists have become little more than mouthpieces for these sorts of organizations (both for and against the 'boy crisis'), and do little independent verification before publishing their articles. On top of that there is the conservative versus feminist mudslinging that you have to wade through. I suggest looking up things like school graduation rates, test scores and university attendance to get a clear unbiased feel for the issue.
I love the mixed views that people have on education of different genders. I think this video made a valuable point. We as males need to step up our game and not fall behind. Men and women should be at an equal playing field.
ReplyDeleteI really like your video :)
ReplyDeleteDid you notice that someone from outside our class commented here? :)
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