Boys and men are falling behind. This might seem surprising to some people, and maybe ridiculous to others, considering that discussions on gender disparities tend to focus on the structural challenges faced by girls and women, not boys and men. But long-term data reveal a clear and alarming trend: In recent decades, American men have been faring increasingly worse in many areas of life, including education, workforce participation, skill acquisition, wages, and fatherhood.
Gender politics is often framed as a zero-sum game: Any effort to help men takes away from women. But in his 2022 book Of Boys and Men, journalist and Brookings Institution scholar Richard V. Reeves argues that the structural problems contributing to male malaise affect everybody, and that shying away from these tough conversations is not a productive path forward.
In 1972, when Title IX was passed to help improve gender equality on campus, men were 13% more likely to get an undergraduate degree than women. Today, it’s women who are 15% more likely to get a BA than men. That’s just one of the startling statistics revealing how millions of young men today are struggling to understand how or where they fit in.
Correspondent Lee Cowan talks with Brookings Institution senior fellow Richard Reeves about his new initiative, the American Institute for Boys and Men; with students at the University of Vermont, where women make up 62% of this year’s freshman class; and with Kalamazoo Promise in Michigan, a scholarship program reaching out to young men who haven’t been taking advantage of the help being offered towards higher education.
@universityofvermont #gendergap
Scott Galloway and Matt Welch join Bill to discuss the factors driving young American men toward toxicity.
Brooking Institution Fellow and author Richard Reeves joins Bill to discuss the struggles facing modern males and what can be done about it.
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