"A War Against Boys?"
By Michael Kimmel, professor of sociology, SUNY--Stony Brook
If boys are doing worse, whose fault is it? To many of the current critics, it's women's fault, either as feminists, as mothers, or as both. Feminists, we read, have been so successful that the earlier "chilly classroom climate" has now become overheated to the detriment of boys. Feminist-inspired programs have enabled a whole generation of girls to enter the sciences, medicine, law, and the professions; to continue their education; to imagine careers outside the home. But in so doing, these same feminists have pathologized boyhood. Elementary schools are, we read, "anti-boy"--emphasizing reading and restricting the movements of young boys. Such claims sound tinnily familiar....

Gender Equity in Higher Education: 2006
By Jacqueline E. King, Director, American Council on Educations's Center for Policy Analysis
How has the situation changed since 2000? The most striking change since 2000 is the widening gender gap among white and Hispanic traditional-age undergraduates (aged 24 or younger), due primarily to a larger female share among low-income students. These changes have led to an overall decline in the male share of traditional-age students from 48 percent in 1995-96 to 45 percent in 2003-04. Among the 40 percent of undergraduates who are aged 25 or older, women outnumber men by almost a two to one margin. Despite continued growth in the percentage of female undergraduates, the number of bachelor's degrees awarded to men is on the rise, as it is for women. As in 2000, it does not appear that women's success is coming at the expense of men, but rather that women's college participation is rising faster than men's. The story is one of increasing educational attainment for women of all races and ethnicities and for men of color, but no less attainment by white men.