August 27, 2006

GUYS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN


Failing boys put university drive in doubt (Julie Henry, The Telegraph, August 27th, 2006)

Government plans for half of young people to go to university are being scuppered by boys' underachievement, figures have revealed.

Data published last week by the University and Colleges Admission Service show that 30,000 more girls than boys have gained places at university so far this year. On some degree courses, such as psychology, girls outnumber boys by more than four to one and almost twice as many have been accepted onto law courses.

The gap between the number of British male and female undergraduates studying at universities has increased from 170,510 in 2000 to 295,575 in 2005. The difference is such that the proportion of women aged 18 to 30 attending university, which currently stands at 47 per cent, is likely to hit the Government's target of 50 per cent by the end of the decade. Boys, however, languish at 37 per cent and show little sign of improving.[...]

John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Much higher proportions of boys than girls are disinclined to work hard at school.

''I think it can be traced to the way in which girls and boys are treated differently at a very early stage.

More likely it can be traced to their perceptions of what will be expected of them at a much later stage.

Posted by Peter Burnet at August 27, 2006 7:55 PM
Comments

''I think it can be traced to the way in which girls and boys are treated differently at a very early stage."

I think anyone who has read any social science literature can translate this into "We have no idea (or will admit to no idea) why this happened." The phrase "very early" gives it away.

Posted by: Bob Hawkins at August 27, 2006 9:22 PM

Though I haven't deciphered exactly what Peter means, I've come to the conclusion that the phenomenon of boys/men rejecting the education system of is a rational defense mechanism.

Though it is completely unconscious, boys must experience a natural aversion to the feminizing influence of the contentless and emasculating curriculum of today's schools and.

The fact that one can live well as a reasonably dedicated tradesman doesn't hurt. In a age were the "educated" metrosexual can't (and/or won't) change his own tire or find a stud to hang a picture, the man who can charge him $100 to do so makes out pretty well.

Posted by: Bruno at August 27, 2006 10:19 PM

Having 50% of the population attend University is a waste of a lot of time, money, and effort, or at least it would be in the U.S.

In America, only about a quarter of the population would benefit substantially from attending college, and even among that group there are plenty who waste the opportunity by sticking to the Liberal Arts, which is a course of instruction that was originally intended to polish the children of nobility.

Children of the middle class are better-advised to learn something useful, and to pursue their creative interests as a hobby.

Posted by: Abner Hathaway at August 28, 2006 7:21 AM
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