news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20050923/cm_usatoday/biglackofmenoncampus
USA TODAY Big (lack of) men on campus Fri Sep 23, 6:34 AM ET Where the Boys Are, released in 1960, is the quintessential college sprin g-break movie. Today, visitors to college campuses can't help but ask: W here are the boys?
The decline in colleg e attendance means many will needlessly miss out on success in life. The loss of educated workers also means the country will be less able to co mpete economically. The social implications - women having a hard time f inding equally educated mates - are already beginning to play out. But the inequity has yet to provoke the kind of response that finally ope ned opportunities for women a generation ago. In fact, virtually no one is exploring the obvious questions: What has gone wrong? And what happen s to all the boys who aren't in college? Some join the armed forces, but the size of the military has remained ste ady, at about 14 million, for the past decade. For the rest, the prospe cts appear dark: The workforce. Thousands of young men find work as drywallers, painters a nd general laborers, but many have troubling landing jobs. As for earnings, those who don't graduate from college are at a severe, lif elong financial disadvantage: Last year, men 25 and older with a college degree made an average of $47,000 a year, while those with a high schoo l degree earned $30,000. Young people who aren't in school or the workforce are dubbed "no n-engaged" by the annual Kids Count report from the Annie E Casey Found ation. About 38 million youth ages 18-24 belong to this group, roughly 15% of all people of that age. Thoug h there are no gender breakdowns for this group, the pathways leading to this dead end - dropping out from high school, emerging from the juveni le justice system - are dominated by boys. While demographers and economists have a pretty good idea where the boys end up, educators are largely clueless about the causes. Some say female teachers in elementary and middle schools, where male teachers are scar ce, naturally enforce a girl-friendly environment that rewards students who can sit quietly - not a strong point for many boys, who earn poor gr ades and fall behind. Others argue that a smart-isn't-cool bias has seep ed into boys of all racial and ethnic groups. Hiring more male teachers would likely h elp, as would countering the anti-intellectual male code. Many boys leave middle school with pronounced shortcomings i n verbal skills. Those lapses contribute to the low grade and high dropo ut rates. Surely, a problem that creates crime, increases unemployment and leads to hopelessness deserves attention.
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