When I began college in 1972, the majority of engineering students and business students were male. They from the top of their high school classes, and from stable homes mostly; they went on to high paying jobs. Boys also dominated at the bottom of society. They were the majority of the criminals, drug addicts, and high-school dropouts. Many went off to Vietnam. Some, those who were handy, went to trade schools and a reasonable life, productive life. Society did not seem bothered by the destruction of boys in prison, or Vietnam, or by drugs, but there was an outcry that so few women achieved high academic levels. A famous presentation of the problem was called “for every 100 girls.” An updated version appears below showing the status as of October, 2021. A more detailed version appears further down.
From the table above, you can see that women are now the majority of those in college, the majority of those with a bachelors degree or higher, and a majority of those with advanced degrees. Colleges added special tutoring, special grants, and special programs. Each college had a Society of Women Engineers office, and similar programs in law and math. All of these explicitly excluded men or highly discouraged their presence. The curriculum was changed too; made more female-friendly. Dirty, and physical experiments were removed, replaced with group analysis of the social interactions — important aspects of engineers that boys were far-less adept at doing well. Perhaps society and engineering is better off now, but boys (men) are far worse off. This is particularly seem by the following chart, looking at the bottom. Boys/men provide the vast majority of the prison population, of those diagnosed as learning disabled, of those expelled, or overdosed, and among the war dead.
I’ve previously noted that a majority of boys in school are considered disruptive, and that these boys are routinely diagnosed as ADHD and drugged. It is not at all clear that this is a good thing, or that the drugs help anyone but the teacher. I’ve also noted that artwork and attitudes that were considered normal for boys are now considered disturbing and criminal like saying I wish the school was blown up. The cure here, perhaps is worse than the disease. I’m not saying that we should encourage boys to say such things, but that we should acknowledge a difference between an active and a passive wish. And we should find a way to educate boys/men so they don’t end up unemployed, addicted, or dead. Currently boy, particularly those at the bottom are on the scrap-heap of society.
Here is some source material for the above:
- For every 100 women enrolled in US colleges (degree-granting postsecondary institutions) at all levels there are 75 men enrolled.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics - For every 100 women enrolled in US graduate schools there are 68 men.
Source: Council for Graduate Schools (2020) - For every 100 women who earn associate’s degrees from US colleges, there are 61 men.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (2021-2022) - For every 100 women who earn bachelor’s degrees from US colleges and universities, there are 73 men.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (2021-2022) - For every 100 women who earn master’s degrees from US colleges and universities, there are 65 men.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics - For every 100 women who earn doctor’s degrees from US universities, there are 85 men.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics - For every 100 women who are recent college graduates but not in the labor force, there are 108 men.
Source: Department of Labor - For every 100 women with an advanced degree but not in the labor force there are 114 men.
Source: Department of Labor - For every 100 women ages 16-24 in the civilian labor force who are enrolled in college there are 68 men.
Source: Department of Labor
- For every 100 women who were victims of violent crimes in 2020, there were 106 men.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation - For every 100 women murdered in 2020, there were 344 men.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation - For every 100 women who were victims of robbery in 2020, there were 187 men.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation - For every 100 women who were victims of aggravated assault in 2020, there were 115 men.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation - For every 100 women who were victims of property crimes in 2020, there were 126 men.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation - For every 100 women who were victims of motor vehicle theft in 2020, there were 167 men.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation - For every 100 women who are homeless, there are 158 men.
Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development(2020) - For every 100 women who are homeless and unsheltered, there are 234 men.
Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2020) - For every 100 women who abuse illicit drugs and alcohol, 180 men do so.
Source: Addiction Center - For every 100 women who had an alcohol use disorder in 2019, there were 175 men.
Source: Centers for Disease Control - For every 100 women who have an alcohol-related hospitalization, there are 232 men. Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- For every 100 females in local jails in the US, there are 614 males.
Source: Department of Justice via Wikipedia - For every 100 females in state and federal prisons, there are 1,225 males.
Source: Department of Justice - For every 100 females in federal prison, there are 1,331 male prisoners.
Source: Federal Bureau of Prisons - For every 100 female military personnel who have been wounded in action during Operation Enduring Freedom, 5,098 men have.
Source: Congressional Research Service - For every 100 female military personnel who have been wounded in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom, 4,982 menhave.
Source: Congressional Research Service
Robert Buxbaum, May 28, 2022