3 ms·

I see vastly more attention given to areas where girls are under-represented, with the belief that such disparities are inequities to be fixed, than I do to are

I see vastly more attention given to areas where girls are under-represented, with the belief that such disparities are inequities to be fixed, than I do to areas where males perform worse. It seems that male deficits are largely accepted. Could the male disadvantage in reading be reduced by different instructional methods (more phonics) or with reading material that appeals to boys?

DanBC 7y ago
> than I do to areas where males perform worse. This is only because you're not looking.
- darklion 7y ago
  Can you point to fields where male under-representation is given the same weight as fields with male over-representation? This isn't a troll--I'm genuinely interested in seeing which fields and areas are trying to promote more balanced gender representation.
  - michaelt 7y ago
    There are campaigns for things like nursing [1] “Through these campaigns [...] to challenge the stereotypical image of nursing as a female career so the increase of 9% among male applicants (19% among 18 year olds) is particularly excellent news. Also for things like teaching [2]. And for things like professional-level ballet schools recruit 50% male and 50% female, despite many more female applicants, due to the practical needs of teaching partnering. [1] https://www.england.nhs.uk/2019/02/young-male-nursing-applicants-surge-after-we-are-the-nhs-recruitment-campaign/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/2019/02/young-male-nursing-applic... [2] https://www.tes.com/news/so-you-want-get-more-men-primary-teaching https://www.tes.com/news/so-you-want-get-more-men-primary-te...
0815test 7y ago
> more phonics This paper is about high-school students, where the difference between "phonics" and (largely discredited) "real language" approaches to basic literacy skills is simply not relevant. The gap in "reading skills" is not really measuring literacy, it's more about all sorts of other stuff that the authors don't really get into. (We can assume that what's being tested is "text comprehension" of a sort, but better text-comprehension skills are hardly an obstacle for STEM!)
em-bee 7y ago
that maybe because at least in the past males were dominating society, so this is more about addressing that domination rather than uneven performance. in areas where mailes are under-represented (nurses for example, or early childhood teachers) the problem is not males performance but their lack of motivation or lack of encouragement.

DanBC 7y ago

> than I do to areas where males perform worse. This is only because you're not looking.

darklion 7y ago
Can you point to fields where male under-representation is given the same weight as fields with male over-representation? This isn't a troll--I'm genuinely interested in seeing which fields and areas are trying to promote more balanced gender representation.
- michaelt 7y ago
  There are campaigns for things like nursing [1] “Through these campaigns [...] to challenge the stereotypical image of nursing as a female career so the increase of 9% among male applicants (19% among 18 year olds) is particularly excellent news. Also for things like teaching [2]. And for things like professional-level ballet schools recruit 50% male and 50% female, despite many more female applicants, due to the practical needs of teaching partnering. [1] https://www.england.nhs.uk/2019/02/young-male-nursing-applicants-surge-after-we-are-the-nhs-recruitment-campaign/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/2019/02/young-male-nursing-applic... [2] https://www.tes.com/news/so-you-want-get-more-men-primary-teaching https://www.tes.com/news/so-you-want-get-more-men-primary-te...

0815test 7y ago

> more phonics This paper is about high-school students, where the difference between "phonics" and (largely discredited) "real language" approaches to basic literacy skills is simply not relevant. The gap in "reading skills" is not really measuring literacy, it's more about all sorts of other stuff that the authors don't really get into. (We can assume that what's being tested is "text comprehension" of a sort, but better text-comprehension skills are hardly an obstacle for STEM!)

em-bee 7y ago

that maybe because at least in the past males were dominating society, so this is more about addressing that domination rather than uneven performance. in areas where mailes are under-represented (nurses for example, or early childhood teachers) the problem is not males performance but their lack of motivation or lack of encouragement.