Why Boys Fail
This blog was written by Richard Whitmire, a former editorial writer at USA Today and past board president of the National Education Writers Association, and a frequent opinion commentator on national education issues. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: boys.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
College Gender Gaps
A comparison of campus gender gaps done by the NYU newspaper. At urban universities such as NYU (60 percent female) the gaps have less impact than at universities located in rural areas or smaller cities where the social life is confined to the campus population.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Five Point Plan for Helping Boys
Toronto's Globe & Mail wraps up its six-part series on the boy troubles with an editorial listing five steps that could help boys. This is the most impressive project newspaper project I've ever seen on the issue. If The New York Times or Wall Street Journal ever did the same in this country, policy would change.
Law & Courts
Opinion
Affirmative Action for Men?
That's the discussion at Canada's McMaster University after realizing that 77 percent of the medical school admits were women. Why the imbalance? Because the admissions standards are based on grade point averages and women earn better grades.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
The 17 Million Mystery
Why, asks commentary writer Richard Vedder in the Chronicle of Higher Education, are 17 million Americans with four-year degrees working in jobs that don't require those degrees? Isn't that a waste of an education? Isn't that proof that far too many people go to college?
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
The Reason Why Obama Will Miss His 2020 Goal
That goal, to boost the United States to the top of world rankings for college completion, won't happen, and today's report from the American Council on Education makes it clear why: men are not completing college at the same rate as women. The Post's version.
Early Childhood
Opinion
The Price of Early Academics
Thanks to Jon Wolfer for sending me this Harvard Education Letter piece on what's playing out ... so to speak ... in kindergarten these days.
Special Education
Opinion
Twice as Many British Primary Boys as Girls Have Special Ed Needs
From the Guardian. That's roughly what you'd find in this country.
Federal
Opinion
Why Canada and Not the U.S.?
The Canadians, whose gender gaps mirror those in the U.S., seem all over the topic. This from Maclean's.
Federal
Opinion
Stop the Presses! Arne Duncan Speaks on the Boy Troubles
Okay, a quick qualification: it was to a Canadian reporter, part of the Globe and Mail mega-project now playing out. Definitely worth a read. Is it possible no U.S. reporter has ever asked him about the gender gaps?
Federal
Opinion
Canadians Taking a Hard Look at Their Boy Troubles
There's more interest in the gender gaps in Canada (and England, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere) than you find in the United States, despite the fact the gaps are roughly the same. I can't explain why. My only theory is that when the "boy troubles" first surfaced in this country they were seen as a right-wing assault on the gains made by feminists. (The highly influential book, "The War on Boys," by Christina Hoff Sommers blamed feminists for the gender gaps. Consider the book's subtitle: "How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men").
Education
Opinion
Boy Troubles Opinion Piece
If you're only educating half the county, how can you push up our competitive index? Good question asked in this commentary.
Education
Opinion
A Men's Mag Not About Babes and Booze?
That's what they say the Good Men Project Magazine is all about.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
About Those College Degrees ...
Yes, you need them (including the men who aren't getting them). More than you think, argues Kevin Carey in the Chronicle. (password may be needed)