Experts Call for Expanding Boys' Career Options

Traditionally female-dominated careers still draw few men

In the nearly four decades since the law known as Title IX barred sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal aid, educators and policymakers have encouraged more girls to study and enter traditionally “male” careers, from science and technology to architecture and law.

With male-dominated fields like construction now stagnant, however, experts argue that the situation may be reversed: American schools don’t do enough to encourage boys to explore careers in female-dominated fields, such as health care and education.

Experts at a forum hosted last week by the Washington-based Boys Initiative called for the creation of a White House Council on Boys to Men, similar to the existing White House Council on Women and Girls, to...