A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost’

https://www.wsj.com/articles/college-university-fall-higher-education-men-women-enrollment-admissions-back-to-school-11630948233

At some schools, the disparity can be as much as 60:40. Of course, looking at only men and women (trans and non-binary people aside), there must be one gender that has more attendance.

When I did my Social Service Worker diploma, the program was 90% women. Didn't help my dating prospects, unfortunately. There was no focus on getting more men into the program, and a mythical male advantage - that nonprofits would jump at the chance to hire the few of us men in the program to work with male clients who often lacked male workers - did not materialize.

One part of the article I rolled my eyes at was this:

I really can't imagine a mass of 18 year olds choosing to play video games instead of going to college, but that seems like a convenient cover for whatever issues they're actually facing - whether that's academic unpreparedness, no role models for how to be successful in college, etc.

They also note later in the article that men make up the majority of leadership positions on college campuses - however those individuals also graduated 20-40 years ago - before women started overtaking male students.

They briefly discuss men's centers at the end. A few schools in Canada have tried to launch them and faced accusations that the mere existence of one was anti-feminist.

 

Yet, men deride women for not entering certain STEM fields and trades that are more than 80% male. Sometimes, there's just a lack of interest. Sometimes, the environments are hostile due to male colleagues' beliefs that women are intellectually inferior and because of sexual harassment and even sexual assault. Then, there's the outright hiring discrimination, which I've witnessed in law enforcement.

But, women still made headway into some previously male-dominated fields. If a man really wants to be a social worker or in another female-dominated profession, he should keep pressing on. They might raise wages when more men enter the field because wages drop whenever women take over a field.

 

The disparity is evident in my criminal justice courses this semester. I am astonished since I assumed that men tend to choose CJ more than women. Here is a breakdown of my courses by gender:

Admin. of Justice
5 (F)
1 (M)

L.E.-Comm. Relations
2 (F)
2 (M)

Police Org. & Admin.
12 (F)
2 (M)

Intro. to C.J.
15 (F)
4 (M)

White Collar Crime
12 (F)
3 (M)

 

I've noticed that men and women often study CJ for different reasons. Most of my past female CJ students had no interest in becoming a police officer or deputy sheriff. Some of them wanted to become special agents, but most wanted to go into law, forensics, social work, or advocacy.

 

The labor force participation of young men has been trending downwards for years. Many of the factors influencing it are also likely factors for the lower numbers seeking higher education. While likely also a factor impacting both issues, the opioid crisis has simply been devastating for a generation.

 

IMHO, I feel some young men get lost because their traditional pathways to and through adulthood have been blurred and made much more complex. This has left some of them unprepared and in disarray.

Women's pathways are equally difficult and complex, but they fought for that and I think it makes them more clear on what they want.

Just an opinion, not an academic point.

 

Some see it as giving up, others see it as being displaced.

Whenever reasons are brought up by these sources, they read like insults and accusations. They are just insults and accusations most of the time, thinly-veiled, or often times not veiled at all, just outright. They would rather ridicule and blame men than actually do any real examination into what is turning men off and why. They don't even see the value and importance of doing that. Some of it is born from there being little education--and lots of miseducation--on men's issues coming from media and organizations that purport to be feminist but are really just misandrists publishing article after article of male-bashing vitriol with no fear of being cancelled or marginalized like many male groups have been.

Those situations have drawn protests on a number of campuses. That's another component to this: the inability to create and maintain spaces for men without it being turned into a misogyny-warlock hunt is exacerbating the problem. There are college campuses that operate in ways that portray all men as potential predators, and any attempt men make to organize and help other men is slanted as misogyny because the help is for men-only, disregarding the fact that men have specific needs that differ from women's needs just like the same is true in reverse, but there is never any issue with women having women-only organizations.

That kind of thing is obviously not inviting to prospective male enrollees.

 

Hey brah, you even lift?!

 

Apparently far fewer young people bother to get drivers licenses, too. https://medium.com/swlh/american-teens-are-driving-less-and-the-reasons-are-more-than-economic-4cf6217375a1

 

I'll say. A few years ago I was on a campus and saw posters for programs that were "teaching men not to rape", in fact the language made it clear that was the theme. The insinuation that men are rapists by nature and must be taught not to do it is absolutely reprehensible, and flat-out wrong. But that's where we are now, and people are really wondering why men are dropping out of so many spaces?

 

Consent should be covered in the required sexual harassment and assault course. Most people are not fully aware of what consent means. They believe it's okay to take advantage of someone who is passed out, or it's okay to force yourself onto someone you're dating. An estimated one-fifth to a quarter of female college students are sexually assaulted, so rapes on college campuses and at college-related functions are quite common.

The issue is that far too many men are not taught what is inappropriate.

 

Not all men are rapists, but nearly all rapists are men. It would be nice, however, if the reactions to things like this weren't so binary. I don't like being perceived as a potential threat wherever I go. (There are certain ethnic males who might feel even more strongly about this.)

 

The issue is not just the rapists. Considering that rape is so prevalent on college campuses, many men are knowingly friends and acquaintances with rapists. Many people have witnessed rapes or rapes that were about to occur and did nothing. This gives the message to sexual predators that their actions are socially acceptable. It appears that there's more outrage over an optional rape class than the fact that upwards of 27% of female students will be raped. Yet, women still go to college even though their safety is at risk and college administration and police departments usually do nothing.

 

You mean not all men believe that they can just force their will upon another person? Man, that's news to me. I walk around every day, in all things, just forcing people to do whatever I want! /s (I shouldn't need /s on this, but I'd rather be safe than sorry)

It's ridiculous that the prevailing view so openly espouses misandry.

 

In the 1990s and early 2000s, almost everyone knew that R. Kelly married Aaliyah when she was 15 and that he had a sex tape with a 14-year-old. Thousands, possibly millions, watched the sex tape, which is child porn. Such a bizarre thing. Comedians made jokes about it. People continued to buy his music, he continued to get awards, and artists continued to work with him. How many families knew that an uncle was creepy or had molested children in the family, and they didn't disinvite him to family functions or report anything to the police? You don't have to rape someone to be complicit.

 

"Zoomers." I hadn't heard that. I like it. "Okay, Zoomer...." is going to get put into play!

 

"Zoomers". Wow, is this whole Covid nightmare going to go on so long that we name a generation after it?

 

I'm not sure if this in jest, but - differing year choices aside - after Baby Boomers (roughly 1946-1964) came Gen X (1965-1979), then Gen Y or Millennials (1980-1995) and Gen Z (1996-2010). Gen Zers are also called Zoomers, a la Boomers. Millennials have also been called Doomers for our bleak outlook on life.

My youngest is in Gen Alpha (2011-present.)

Edit: Whoops, that should be bleak outlook. Not sure how that got turned into "next"

 

Well, in that case, let us hope that Gen Omega is a long time in arriving!