TWO WEEKS ago, the Miller Center hosted a forum to evaluate the progress of the goals set forth by governors in the 1989 Education Summit convened by former President George H. W. Bush. One of the speakers, former Clinton Education Secretary Richard Riley, touched briefly on an educational subject that doesn't get much mention: the decline of male educational achievement.
He instructed attendees not to forget about boys, and cited statistics on the high school drop-out rate and college attendance rate for males, which is on the decline. Riley stated frankly, "I'm concerned about boys." His disheartening figures buttress his apprehension: "Two-thirds of all students in special education are boys... 64 percent of all boys are graduating from high school." According to a study from the Urban Institute, only 42.8 percent of African-American boys receive high school diplomas. Currently, high school females surpass males by about 2 million. Riley projected that by 2010, there will be "138 women for every 100 men on college campuses."
Riley pointed out that with all of the initiatives to encourage the educational development of girls, such as Title IX, and affirmative action policies for minorities, boys seem to get lost in the mix. He acknowledged the "very successful" efforts and "good work done with Title IX" to improve education for females, which he noted was important to maintain. His intention was not to "detract from interest" in erasing discrimination in education quality and accomplishment.
However, the effects of these policies implemented decades ago are now beginning to surface. While girls and minorities continue to benefit tremendously, boys of all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds are performing poorly in the academic world. We need to establish an equilibrium and reform old initiatives that have served a purpose but now are detrimental to male academic success.
At the University, males are outnumbered by a significant percentage. While 35 years ago, women made up 0 percent of the student body, they currently comprise approximately 54 percent of the undergraduate classes. Part of the decline in male enrollment at the University is obviously due to the admission of women, but there is a national decline in the number of males attending college. If this trend continues, some day there may be very few men in professional occupations. While this may seem a bit far-fetched, the implications of this worst-case scenario shouldn't be completely ignored.
Riley set an important goal for the future in his closing remarks: "I invite all of you... to be thinking about boys in America and some approach to doing something better."
It would be impractical and unfeasible to nullify the legislation currently in place to aid in the advancement of girls and minorities, but this legislation should be reexamined and possibly modified so that the benefits to these groups does not come at the expense of the success of another. Male academic performance is declining in the face of educational reforms such as Title XI and affirmative action.
As Politics Prof. Steven Rhoads commented in an interview, "I completely agree with Secretary Riley. By almost all measures, boys are doing worse than girls. They are more likely to be in slower learning classes and learn to read much more slowly." He also cited a recent study that revealed the magnitude of the educational gender gap: An 11th grade boy writes on the same level of an 8th grade girl.
The bottom line is that boys are being left behind in today's educational environment. Let us not forget the intentions of movements such as Title IX and affirmative action -- to level the playing field and create an atmosphere that provides equal opportunities to everyone. I'm not arguing that the playing field is completely leveled in all circumstances; I don't know that this will ever happen, but as the statistics clearly show, the current forms of these and other initiatives are serving, in part, to unbalance the playing field, this time in the opposite direction.
The pendulum is once again swinging away from equality. We need to reverse this trend. Let's stop it in motion before it gets too late and absurdities such as affirmative action for white males are actually realized. Imagine that irony.
Whitney Blake is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. She can be reached at wblake@cavalierdaily.com.
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