INTENSITY²
Start here => What's your crime? Basic Discussion => Topic started by: El on May 14, 2010, 05:03:26 PM
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Affirmative action for male college entrants as a vehicle to correct the current gender imbalance in college enrollment will help women, too, because they won't have to degrade themselves in order to get a date in college, and they won't have to marry a guy who doesn't make more money than them. :zoinks:
Q&A: College gender gap has far-reaching consequences
By Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY
As colleges nationwide review freshman applications over the next several weeks, many will face lopsided numbers of male and female candidates. Some colleges maintain a gender balance, but national data in recent years show a 57%-43% split favoring women, both in enrollments and graduation rates. Richard Whitmire, author of Why Boys Fail and a former USA TODAY editorial writer, talks to reporter Mary Beth Marklein about how we got there, why we should care, and what should be done about it.
Q: Why do boys fail, and how do we turn that around?
A: The reforms launched by the nation's governors more than 20 years ago to get more students college-ready had an unintended consequence: Most girls adjusted nicely to the intensified verbal skills demanded in the early grades; most boys didn't. We have to figure out a way to keep boys on track with reading and writing skills. Boys are failing because the world has gotten more verbal and they haven't.
Q: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is investigating whethercolleges discriminate against girlsby giving boys a break in admissions, but you support affirmative action for male students for "just a little longer." How long is that?
A: I would like to get (college graduation rates) at a 55-45 split. We need to wait until corrections are made in elementary and high school that put boys on a better path toward college readiness. Improving verbal skills would be 90% of that task. The first measurement of success would be a drop in the number of boys in the ninth-grade "bulge" — the boys held back for another year because they are not prepared to start high school.
Q: Some data suggest minority and low-income boys are struggling the most. Are white boys from middle- or upper-income families not in crisis?
A: You can't look at the "affirmative action" in admissions for white males practiced at some elite private colleges and conclude there's no problem among middle-class white males. Black and Latino boys have the flu; white middle-class boys have a mild cold.
Q: There are economic consequences for men who don't pursue college, but you cite social implications as well.
A: The most striking was at James Madison University (where the ratio was about 60% female, 40% male). Some women there (said) it was not uncommon to see these parties where girls would get into this bizarre competition to win a guy who maybe even wasn't worth winning. And these guys were total players. The minority sex sets the rules, animal house rules, and these women would do very demeaning things just for the competition. They'd be embarrassed about that (but) they'd do it anyway. I'm really glad my daughters went to colleges where the genders were evenly balanced. But if I had a son, I wouldn't want him to develop these warped relationships, either.
The marriageable-mate dilemma, whether white women decide to "marry down" to less-educated males, will be a long-term impact of these gender gaps, and probably the biggest impact. Black women have long faced the marriageable-mate dilemma, and college-educated black women have low marriage rates and high out-of-wedlock birth rates. The question is whether more white women will start making similar choices.
Q: Do you worry, as some argue, that gains made by women come at the expense of men?
A: I do not think the gains of girls have come at the expense of boys. And interventions aimed at boys will not hurt girls — contrary to the fears of feminist groups.
Q: You want the U.S. Education Department to take action. How?
A: Many other countries have the same problems. The Education Department should do what the Australians did more than seven years ago, which was launch a national investigation into why boys are losing interest in school. Next, it needs to correct the mistake made in 2006, which was authorizing single-sex public schools but not offering school districts research on how to do it. Australia has not solved the problem, but at least they've created an intelligence pathway for schools interested in working on the gender gaps.
Q: How can a parent of a boy help him, here and now?
A: Don't believe your teacher when they say boys start out slowly but will catch up. That used to be true, but it's not now. Parents need to have a more liberal attitude about literacy. If your young son likes "goofy" books such as Captain Underpants, that's OK. Just keep him reading. The largest gender gaps are found in writing skills. Schools may overlook that — part of the 'boys will be boys' attitude — which means parents have to compensate. Writing matters.
If I was a proponent of the "let's get more males in college" thing (which I don't even really have an opinion on- never gave it much thought TBH- gender imbalance depends not just on college in general but on type of college, age and major in my experience), I'd want Dick Whitmore to stop trying to "help" my side of the argument.
Even aside from the myriad ways that the american educational system (and, as more of an extension than I think should be there in the first place, the american judicial system, and welfare system... oh christ, pretty much the whole fucking thing) makes me want to fucking scream and throw things, this dude makes my head hurt.
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Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
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Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
Just keep the caveat in mind that the US educational system is a combination brainwashing and profit-making machine- you could well spend many years and many tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that you only realize midway through (or after attaining it) has absolutely no practical value whatsoever outside of academia.
short version- don't major in english unless you want to teach
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Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
Just keep the caveat in mind that the US educational system is a combination brainwashing and profit-making machine- you could well spend many years and many tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that you only realize midway through (or after attaining it) has absolutely no practical value whatsoever outside of academia.
short version- don't major in english unless you want to teach
Well I was looking at PhD level stuff - one condition is that they would have to pay me, not the other way around. I certainly wouldn't be looking into anything low flight - really I am looking into the mathematical biology / psychology stuff. But I will have to see how well I do in exams...
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Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
Just keep the caveat in mind that the US educational system is a combination brainwashing and profit-making machine- you could well spend many years and many tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that you only realize midway through (or after attaining it) has absolutely no practical value whatsoever outside of academia.
short version- don't major in english unless you want to teach
Well I was looking at PhD level stuff - one condition is that they would have to pay me, not the other way around. I certainly wouldn't be looking into anything low flight - really I am looking into the mathematical biology / psychology stuff. But I will have to see how well I do in exams...
Go with psychology and you can get filthy stinking rich like me! :zoinks:
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Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
Just keep the caveat in mind that the US educational system is a combination brainwashing and profit-making machine- you could well spend many years and many tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that you only realize midway through (or after attaining it) has absolutely no practical value whatsoever outside of academia.
short version- don't major in english unless you want to teach
I was an English major at first, then switched to "liberal studies,"
in order to graduate on time with the less demanding coursework! :snowman:
Now I am a food service worker! So, you see, it's a good thing I stayed in school! :asthing:
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Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
Just keep the caveat in mind that the US educational system is a combination brainwashing and profit-making machine- you could well spend many years and many tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that you only realize midway through (or after attaining it) has absolutely no practical value whatsoever outside of academia.
short version- don't major in english unless you want to teach
I was an English major at first, then switched to "liberal studies,"
in order to graduate on time with the less demanding coursework! :snowman:
Now I am a food service worker! So, you see, it's a good thing I stayed in school! :asthing:
Yes indeedy! If you'd dropped out, your college would have made less money off of you!
-
Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
Just keep the caveat in mind that the US educational system is a combination brainwashing and profit-making machine- you could well spend many years and many tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that you only realize midway through (or after attaining it) has absolutely no practical value whatsoever outside of academia.
short version- don't major in english unless you want to teach
I was an English major at first, then switched to "liberal studies,"
in order to graduate on time with the less demanding coursework! :snowman:
Now I am a food service worker! So, you see, it's a good thing I stayed in school! :asthing:
Yes indeedy! If you'd dropped out, your college would have made less money off of you!
Yes, and my parents would have been burdened with more money, and that would have been just awful for them! :laugh:
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Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
Just keep the caveat in mind that the US educational system is a combination brainwashing and profit-making machine- you could well spend many years and many tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that you only realize midway through (or after attaining it) has absolutely no practical value whatsoever outside of academia.
short version- don't major in english unless you want to teach
I was an English major at first, then switched to "liberal studies,"
in order to graduate on time with the less demanding coursework! :snowman:
Now I am a food service worker! So, you see, it's a good thing I stayed in school! :asthing:
Yes indeedy! If you'd dropped out, your college would have made less money off of you!
Yes, and my parents would have been burdened with more money, and that would have been just awful for them! :laugh:
Truly, education is a GOOD INVESTMENT!!!!
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Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
Just keep the caveat in mind that the US educational system is a combination brainwashing and profit-making machine- you could well spend many years and many tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that you only realize midway through (or after attaining it) has absolutely no practical value whatsoever outside of academia.
short version- don't major in english unless you want to teach
I was an English major at first, then switched to "liberal studies,"
in order to graduate on time with the less demanding coursework! :snowman:
Now I am a food service worker! So, you see, it's a good thing I stayed in school! :asthing:
Yes indeedy! If you'd dropped out, your college would have made less money off of you!
Yes, and my parents would have been burdened with more money, and that would have been just awful for them! :laugh:
Truly, education is a GOOD INVESTMENT!!!!
Tons of win, all around! :2thumbsup:
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Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
Just keep the caveat in mind that the US educational system is a combination brainwashing and profit-making machine- you could well spend many years and many tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that you only realize midway through (or after attaining it) has absolutely no practical value whatsoever outside of academia.
short version- don't major in english unless you want to teach
Well I was looking at PhD level stuff - one condition is that they would have to pay me, not the other way around. I certainly wouldn't be looking into anything low flight - really I am looking into the mathematical biology / psychology stuff. But I will have to see how well I do in exams...
Go with psychology and you can get filthy stinking rich like me! :zoinks:
Ha - I was thinking on the more research like side, where I doubt they pay so much. I am basically a maths student, albeit one who has done quite a lot outside of the subject. Coming to think of it, I am looking at writing a few autism research proposals, just for the irony aspect, if nothing else.
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Ha - one of my lecturers was recently saying that I should really look into applying to the US for a PhD. Maybe this was why...
Just keep the caveat in mind that the US educational system is a combination brainwashing and profit-making machine- you could well spend many years and many tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that you only realize midway through (or after attaining it) has absolutely no practical value whatsoever outside of academia.
short version- don't major in english unless you want to teach
I was an English major at first, then switched to "liberal studies,"
in order to graduate on time with the less demanding coursework! :snowman:
Now I am a food service worker! So, you see, it's a good thing I stayed in school! :asthing:
If I didn't get my biology degree they never would have let me work in construction :zoinks:
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I wonder if they would have let me ride in the SUV taking my daughter to school if I had only gotten a BS in Chemical Engineering instead of the MS.
:laugh:
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Nope, they would have preferred you on the hood, either way.
:evillaugh:
(my memory has only failed a slight bit.)
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Nope, they would have preferred you on the hood, either way.
:evillaugh:
(my memory has only failed a slight bit.)
That's actually true.
:lol:
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Maybe I should try to actually read the threads before I start spiking my old acquaintances?
Nah! It's more fun this way.
;)
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Go with psychology and you can get filthy stinking rich like me! :zoinks:
Ha - I was thinking on the more research like side, where I doubt they pay so much. I am basically a maths student, albeit one who has done quite a lot outside of the subject. Coming to think of it, I am looking at writing a few autism research proposals, just for the irony aspect, if nothing else.
Actually I think you make more in research, depending where you're employed. My income right now is pretty pathetic. Further down the road it ought to get better (I'm fresh out of college and not licensed yet), but I'll never be rolling in dough. I've heard of folks doing research making double what I do.
(Frankly, I had an ex-boyfriend who worked in stop and shop full-time who made more than I do; I think I've repressed by how much but it was at least a couple grand a year.)
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:viking:
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:viking:
Soph's a furry!!!
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:-[
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Didn't recognise you as a cat.
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I'm sorta like a cat. ;3
But i'm sure as fuck not a furfag sonofabitching piece of chickenshit.
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:viking:
Soph's a furry!!!
I knew it! That would explain Soph's love of animals.