Business Week
May 26, 2003
THE NEW GENDER GAP
Why boys are falling behind girls in education – and what it means for the economy, business, and society.
“In the past 30 years, nearly every inch of educational progress has gone to them.’” (girls)
Thomas G. Mortenson, senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study or Opportunity in Higher Education in Washington
“It may still be a man’s world. But it is no longer, in any way, a boy’s. From his first days in school, an average boy is already developmentally two years behind the girls in reading and writing.”
“While every nerve in his body tells him to run, he has to sit still and listen for almost eight hours a day. Biologically, he needs about four recesses a day, but he’s lucky if he gets one, since some lawsuit-leery schools have banned them altogether.”
“…he’s 30% more likely to drop out, 85% more likely to commit murder, and four to six times more likely to kill himself, with boy suicides tripling since 1970.”
“Now, in every state, every income bracket, every racial and ethnic group, and most industrialized Western nations, women reign, earning an average 57% of all BAs and 58% of all master’s degree in the U.S. alone. there are 133 girls getting BAs for every 100 guys.”
“The trend is most pronounced among Hispanics, African Americans, and those from low-income families.”
“Ninety percent of the world’s billionaires are men. Among the super rich, only one woman, Gap Inc. co-founder Doris F. Fisher, made, rather than inherited, her wealth.”
“Girls are better able to deliver in terms of what modern society requires of people – paying attention, abiding by rules, being verbally competent, and dealing with interpersonal relationships in offices.”
“More women now vote than men.”
“Among African Americans, 30% of 40-to 44-year-old women have never married, owing in part to the lack of men with the same academic credentials and earning potential. Currently, the never-married rate is 9% for white women of the same age. ‘Women are going to pull further and further ahead of men, and at some point, when they want to form families, they are going to look around and say, ‘Where are the guys?’”
“From the ages of 18 to 65, the average male college grad earns $2.5 million over his lifetime, 90% more than his high school counterpart.”
“The typical high school dropout will usually get $40,000 more from the government than he pays in, a net drain on society.”
“Overall, boys continue to do better on standardized tests such as the scholastic aptitude test, though more low-income girls than low-income boys take it, thus depressing girls’ scores. Many educators also believe that standardized testing’s multiple-choice format favors boys because girls tend to think in broader, more complex terms. But that advantage is eroding as many colleges now weigh grades – where girls excel – more heavily than test scores.”
“Even the nerves on boys’ fingers develop later than girls,’ making it difficult to hold a pencil and push out perfect cursive.”
“Brain research shows that boys are actually more empathic, expressive, and emotive at birth than girls.”
“Boys typically develop fine-motor skills up to six years later than girls.”
“Male culture has just become totally anti-intellectual. The male cultural heroes and icons – very few of them have a brain in heir head. We glorify male idiocy. And young guys pick up on that.”
“When you listen to women’s groups, and they say there’s not enough good men out there, they’re right. There are fewer well-educated men than there were 20 years ago. And people tend to like to marry someone within the same educational class. Historically, women have tended to marry up."
“More women will marry down, or marry younger, or not marry at all.”
“I believe white women are headed to where black women are today. If white women want to see the future of what will happen if men aren’t brought along through the educational system with them, they should listen to the problems among black women today.”
“I would get my boys out of the classroom, and we’d be in a field all day long chasing tadpoles and pollywogs and looking at swamp water. I certainly wouldn’t have them sit down at a classroom desk and read a book in the first grade.”
Other Statistics
Twenty five percent of prime TV viewing time (7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) has been replaced by Internet surfing. (Nielsen)
Seventy percent of teenagers go online to read and write email, and 50% typically go to a chat room during an Internet session. (Jupiter)
College students will spend $890 million online in 1999 and by 2002 they are expected to spend $3 billion. (Jupiter Communications)
Seventy seven percent of teens said they would rather look something up on the Internet than in a book. (Newsweek)
Teenagers spend the majority of their money on food, clothing, entertainment and personal care products. (CME Kidcom)
The top four coolest brands among teens this year are Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch. (Teenage Research Unlimited)
Spending by teens has increased every year since 1953 despite eight recessions and a fluctuation teen population. (Ran Youth)
More than half of young people ages 14 to 24 hold some sort of job. (American Demographics)
Almost 40% of teenage girls in the United States say they expect to be the primary breadwinners as adults while their husbands stay home and raise the children. (Roper Youth Report)
The median age of first marriage was 25 years old for women and 26.7 for men in 1998. (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
Fifty seven percent of teens today say they have dated interracially, compared with 17% in 1980. (USA Today)
Asked to name the top pressures they face in life, 44% of teens cited getting good grades and 32% cited getting into college. (U.S. Department of Education)
5 of teens admit they lie to their parents. (ABC News)
The birth rate for teenage girls in the U.S. is at a 40-year low - about 30 births for every 1,000. (National Center for Health Statistics)
Almost 43% of college students and four out of five sorority and fraternity members are binge drinkers, defined as those who regularly consume five or more drinks in succession for men and four or more for women. (Harvard School of Public Health)
About half of all teens have a TV in the bedroom. (Horizon Media)
Among 18 - to 29-year-olds, 59% have seen at least one film in a theater during the last month. (Los Angeles Times)
The best teenage liars are often the most popular kids. (Journal of Nonverbal Behavior)
More than half of teen girls in the U.S. say they are dieting, and girls who are trying to lose weight usually gain it instead. (University of Texas study)
About 14% of teenage girls report feeling stressed out almost every day. (Roper Reports Worldwide)
Other Helpful Information:
Letters From Kids
