Higher Education Pedagogy & Policy

Blog U.: Where the Boys Are – Confessions of a Community College Dean – Inside Higher Ed.

Today’s Dean Dad blog on Inside Higher Ed laments the lack of men in higher education. The writer discusses two possible explanations: higher incarceration of men and the ability of men to get well-paying jobs without a degree. As he notes, these are not good explanations. The latter explanation is simply false, and the former cannot explain why there are currently 2.5 million fewer men than women in the undergraduate population.

Again, I would suggest we have to look earlier in the educational process. There are fewer men than women in the undergraduate population because more boys than girls drop out of high school. And one possible explanation of why so many boys drop out of high school is that they learned, starting in kindergarten, that school is boring and geared toward girls.