Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
By: Carson Jerema
14/12/2009 1:00 AM
IT is hardly novel to note that there is a gender imbalance on Canadian university campuses; about 60 per cent women to 40 per cent men.
The threat of an emerging "pink ghetto" recently prompted University of Alberta president Indira Samarasekera to announce that she is "going to be an advocate for young white men." Predictably, she faced outraged students accusing her of bias against women.
What is wrong with Samaraseka's statement, however, is not that she is deviating from the orthodoxy of identity politics, but that she is perpetuating it. If women once faced a biased system, surely men do now. As reported in the Globe and Mail last week, Samaraseka said, "there is a feeling men can take care of themselves -- clearly that is not true."
She would like to see greater supports put in place to help men make the jump to university, including better communication about the economic returns associated with a degree.
The gender imbalance has become a frequent topic in the past few years, as administrators all over the country have identified it as a crisis. Although no one has directly advocated affirmative action, as it would be illegal, it remains a subtext for every bit of ink spilled on the topic.
Men still hold the majority of prestigious positions in business, but it is expected that women will overtake them as they work through the system. This is, apparently, a problem.
Full Story: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/gender-equality-on-campus-dangerous-79202067.html
Showing posts with label engaging men and boys to achieve gender equity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label engaging men and boys to achieve gender equity. Show all posts
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
The So-Called Boy Mystery
The Chronicle of Higher Education
December 6, 2009
By Sara Goldrick-Rab
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recently announced that it would investigate whether some colleges are discriminating against women in an effort to generate a more gender-diverse student population. Reaction was mixed, with some saying it's about time that the "crisis with boys" in higher education is acknowledged and addressed, and others expressing some disbelief and ridicule that the gender wars have come to this.
But part of the overall response really stuck in my craw -- the oft-repeated claim that we "just don't know" what's going on with boys. According to many, sources for the gender differential in higher education are a complete "mystery," a puzzle, a whodunit that we may be intentionally ignoring.
Yes, there are numerous potential explanations for the underrepresentation of men in higher education -- and in particular the growing female advantage in terms of bachelor's degree completion. For example, it could be that boys and girls have differing amounts of the resources important for college success (e.g. levels of financial resources or parental education) or that the usual incentives for college-going (e.g. labor market returns) have differential effects by gender (why, laments the Wall Street Journal, don't boys "get" the importance of attending college?). It's also possible that changes in the labor force or marriage markets, gender discrimination, or societal expectations play a role -- or that the reasons have to do with the growth of community colleges, changes in college affordability, or shifts in the available alternatives to college (e.g. the military).
Sure, this is a wide range of potential factors, not easy to untangle. But while a few years ago we really hadn't a clue about what mattered or why (partly because the trendlines were just becoming visible) this simply isn't true now. This is a topic getting plenty of attention in the research community, there's a reasonable amount of solid data for analysts to use to tackle the major questions, and researchers are on it.
Full Story: http://chronicle.com/blogPost/The-So-Called-Boy-Mystery/9098/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
December 6, 2009
By Sara Goldrick-Rab
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recently announced that it would investigate whether some colleges are discriminating against women in an effort to generate a more gender-diverse student population. Reaction was mixed, with some saying it's about time that the "crisis with boys" in higher education is acknowledged and addressed, and others expressing some disbelief and ridicule that the gender wars have come to this.
But part of the overall response really stuck in my craw -- the oft-repeated claim that we "just don't know" what's going on with boys. According to many, sources for the gender differential in higher education are a complete "mystery," a puzzle, a whodunit that we may be intentionally ignoring.
Yes, there are numerous potential explanations for the underrepresentation of men in higher education -- and in particular the growing female advantage in terms of bachelor's degree completion. For example, it could be that boys and girls have differing amounts of the resources important for college success (e.g. levels of financial resources or parental education) or that the usual incentives for college-going (e.g. labor market returns) have differential effects by gender (why, laments the Wall Street Journal, don't boys "get" the importance of attending college?). It's also possible that changes in the labor force or marriage markets, gender discrimination, or societal expectations play a role -- or that the reasons have to do with the growth of community colleges, changes in college affordability, or shifts in the available alternatives to college (e.g. the military).
Sure, this is a wide range of potential factors, not easy to untangle. But while a few years ago we really hadn't a clue about what mattered or why (partly because the trendlines were just becoming visible) this simply isn't true now. This is a topic getting plenty of attention in the research community, there's a reasonable amount of solid data for analysts to use to tackle the major questions, and researchers are on it.
Full Story: http://chronicle.com/blogPost/The-So-Called-Boy-Mystery/9098/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Monday, April 6, 2009
Engaging men in gender equality efforts
People's Weekly World
PWW.org
RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 2 (IPS) - How many men work in day care centres, looking after children? How much paternity leave are men entitled to? How many government programmes to combat domestic violence include violent men themselves as part of the treatment? The ball is in the court of national governments, and it is up to them to answer these questions, according to participants at an international congress on gender equity. The first global symposium on Engaging Men and Boys to Achieve Gender Equity, being held from Monday, Mar. 30 to Friday, Apr. 3 arose, in fact, out of the deafening official silence on the matter, according to Marcos Nascimento, co-director of the non-governmental Promundo Institute. Over a decade after agreeing that men's participation is essential for "overcoming gender inequalities," governments do not appear to have fully taken this commitment on board, Nascimento said in an interview with IPS. Nascimento belongs to a network of NGOs that address masculinity from a feminist viewpoint, incorporating a gender perspective. Any such initiative is bound to "have greater scope" if it is backed by public policies, he said. The symposium was organised by the Promundo Institute and Instituto Papai (Daddy) of Brazil; the White Ribbon Campaign, based in Canada; Save the Children, an international organisation; MenEngage Global Alliance, a coalition of NGOs and United Nations agencies; and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Full Story: http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/15103/
PWW.org
RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 2 (IPS) - How many men work in day care centres, looking after children? How much paternity leave are men entitled to? How many government programmes to combat domestic violence include violent men themselves as part of the treatment? The ball is in the court of national governments, and it is up to them to answer these questions, according to participants at an international congress on gender equity. The first global symposium on Engaging Men and Boys to Achieve Gender Equity, being held from Monday, Mar. 30 to Friday, Apr. 3 arose, in fact, out of the deafening official silence on the matter, according to Marcos Nascimento, co-director of the non-governmental Promundo Institute. Over a decade after agreeing that men's participation is essential for "overcoming gender inequalities," governments do not appear to have fully taken this commitment on board, Nascimento said in an interview with IPS. Nascimento belongs to a network of NGOs that address masculinity from a feminist viewpoint, incorporating a gender perspective. Any such initiative is bound to "have greater scope" if it is backed by public policies, he said. The symposium was organised by the Promundo Institute and Instituto Papai (Daddy) of Brazil; the White Ribbon Campaign, based in Canada; Save the Children, an international organisation; MenEngage Global Alliance, a coalition of NGOs and United Nations agencies; and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Full Story: http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/15103/
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