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| Posted: May 23, 2008 |
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For years there have been worries about a reported "crisis" in the education rates for boys and young men. This week, the American Association of University Women issued a report stating that income, race and ethnicity were bigger factors than gender. Two experts answered your questions. |
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| Barb Robb of Iowa City, IA, asks: |
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| If boys used to perform better in school in the past than they do now, how have schools changed? Why would the lack of greater involvement and physical activity affect boys any more now than it did in the past?
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| Tom Mortenson responds: |
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 I am asked this question in nearly every presentation on gender issues in higher education that I make. Because I am no historian of K-12 educational practice (I am a data-oriented higher-education policy analyst), I cannot say how educational practice has changed. But the data I study tell me powerful stories. Over the last 30 years the high school graduation rate (including GEDs) for males ages 25 to 29 years decreased by 1.7 percentage points (86.6 percent to 84.9 percent) while it increased for females by 4.9 percentage points (84.2 percent to 89.1 percent). The share of males completing a bachelor's degree by 25 to 29 years decreased by 0.7 percentage points (27 percent to 26.3 percent) while it increased for females by 11.9 percentage points (21.1 percent to 33 percent) according to the Census Bureau. During the last 30 years (1977 to 2007) something is working against the educational progress of boys but is working for the educational progress of girls. Or it might be a combination of things. But these data require explanation if the progress of girls is not to be viewed as coming at the expenses of boys. I have seen data from the National Survey of Student Engagement on college students that indicate that girls find classrooms more conducive to learning than do boys. Other parts of these data suggest boys enjoy learning experiences outside of the classroom more than do girls. I hear from others that the classroom has become "feminized" in ways that turn off boys. There is much data to ponder from the NSSE, UCLA freshman Survey and Noel-Levitz surveys that point in this direction. |
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| Linda Hallman responds: |
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 Good question, Barb! Our study shows that boys did not perform better in school in the past. In fact, on the NAEP exams in K-12, on the SAT and ACT exams, and in the percentage of boys graduating from high school and college, boys are performing better today than ever before. AAUW's Where the Girls Are research finds a particularly disturbing performance gap between children (both boys and girls) from higher-income families and children from lower-income families. Unfortunately, this trend has persisted over a very long time and undermines America's fundamental promise of equal opportunity. |
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