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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Of Boys and Men summary
Richard Reeves
Why Modern Men Struggle, Why It Matters, and How to Fix It
21 mins
Brief summary
Of Boys and Men examines the growing crisis faced by males in modern society, addressing issues such as education, employment, and mental health, while proposing actionable solutions to support their well-being and development.
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Of Boys and Men
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Boys are falling behind in education.
A striking shift has occurred in educational attainment across advanced economies, with girls and women not only catching up to but significantly surpassing boys and men. This transition has unfolded rapidly, altering the landscape of gender equality in education.
Historically, concerted efforts in the 1970s and 1980s aimed to close a substantial gender gap in education that favored males. These initiatives were successful to the extent that they not only eliminated the gap but led to females outperforming males. This was a development few anticipated, as the focus had been squarely on achieving gender parity. The result is a new form of gender inequality where females lead, particularly in educational domains.
In the United States, the data illustrates this reversal vividly. Girls consistently outperform boys in English by nearly a grade level and have reached parity in mathematics. At the high end of academic performance, females represent two-thirds of the top students by grade point average. Conversely, males now make up two-thirds of those at the lower end of academic achievement. This disparity extends into higher education, with females enrolling in and completing college at significantly higher rates than males. The gap in college degree attainment has now exceeded the disparity seen in 1972, the year landmark anti-discrimination legislation was introduced to foster gender equality in education.
The implications of these shifts are profound, impacting long-term educational and economic outcomes for both genders. Part of the explanation for these disparities lies in biological differences in brain development. Neuroscientific research indicates that the prefrontal cortex, critical for executive functions like planning and impulse control, matures 1-2 years earlier in girls than in boys. This difference is partly due to the earlier onset of puberty in females, which stimulates brain development. Thus, an education system that rewards skills such as task persistence, homework completion, and future planning inherently favors those whose brains develop these capabilities earlier – typically, girls.
This irony highlights a crucial oversight in the push for gender equality: by removing barriers to female education, society has inadvertently exposed an educational system that, due to biological developmental timelines, is biased against boys. This was obscured when societal norms suppressed female educational aspirations. Now, with these societal constraints largely removed, it is evident that boys are often at a disadvantage.
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What is Of Boys and Men about?
Of Boys and Men (2022) explores the complex challenges that boys and men encounter in today’s society. Tackling these problems, Richard Reeves argues, requires a shift in our perspective on gender issues. Supporting males to overcome challenges doesn’t detract from the pursuit of gender equality – it complements it and helps foster a more equitable and inclusive world.
Who should read Of Boys and Men?
- Educators seeking strategies to support male students
- Parents of boys navigating modern challenges
- Policy makers focused on gender equality initiatives
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