Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Boys Vs Girls

Girls rule the schools apparently. Most American colleges are now "dominated" by young women, a "problem" that I find considerably less troubling than the fact that most colleges are also dominated by illiterates. But, that's just me.

Anyway, the fact is that more girls than boys go to college, they're more likely to graduate, and when they apply, they tend to be better applicants. What to do? What to do?

Well, some colleges are apparently giving male applicants a little bump up in the admissions process; what generally gets called affirmative action. Somehow, I'm not imagining the usual critics of affirmative action will be bitching about this on Fox News tonight.

This is likely as misguided an idea as the old affirmative action was. Actually, I'm starting to believe that no good ever came from a committee. See, the problem isn't that boys are less likely to be college-bound- it's that they're less likely to be college-worthy. Or, more interestingly, it's that they seem to get drilled into their heads from a young age that any sort of intellectual endeavor is "gay". Of course, in my encounters, they also don't seem to be too terribly worried about whether or not they do get educated, which is also interesting.

As a society, we seem to have lost the idea that education means anything. The idea of the cultivated bachelor seems lost in the 19th century somewhere. What boys need isn't affirmative action; it's an affirmation of intellectualism.

6 comments:

Rufus said...

Hey, thanks for the comments!

I actually don't think that college women constitutes a problem either. I considered putting irony quotes around "problem" because it's been described as such, but then figured I was more clear about that than I apparently was. I should probably correct that.

My feelings on affirmative action is that it comes so late that it doesn't really fix the problem, which is that some little children get told that they have to work hard and achieve great things, others get told that they have little chance anyway so "screw it", and others frankly get told that they're going to be provided for anyway and so school is a "joke".

So, as old fashioned as it may sound, I'd like to see more parents teaching their children to value curiosity, intelligence and culture a bit more than shopping, drinking and screwing.

Also, I'd frankly like the high schools to stop standardized testing these kids into submission, but that's another post.

Thanks again!

Rufus said...

Okay, now it's more clear.

Anonymous said...

"Somehow, I'm not imagining the usual critics of affirmative action will be bitching about this on Fox News tonight."

That is so spot-on.

I'm kind of pessimistic about our culture ever valuing intellectual effort, since there's no quick, big payoff.

Rufus said...

Well, one of my regular amusements involves the NY state high school teachers who have been shuffled into our master's program and listening to them bitch about affirmative action. This is the "reading is gay" crowd who has perplexed me before by, you know, being in grad school. Their other favorite topic, usually appropos of nothing, is how evil affirmative action is. What's funny about it is how completely oblivious they are to the fact that they're actually in the program due to NY state's "free ride" for its teachers.

Jaesoreal said...

I am completely for equal rights. However it is illogical and utterly ridiculous to assume that judging everyone equally after systematically undercutting them whether it is by lower funding in the educational systems, biased testing, or not having the same experiences of someone from a higher socioeconomic background, to expect them to end up at the same place as someone who did not. As a matter of fact, if they do, they deserve more praise than the other person since they started froma lower place. If you ever looked in-depth at the educational system and affirmative action, it could hardly be seen as a negative. Is it the best thing? I do not pretend it is. However, it is the best solution on the table. Besides, it helps international students more than african-americans in college and women more in the workplace than african-americans. It is also used not only for people of other races, but people for various geographical locations and alumni. If you take a look at the weight given to categories in admission criteria, sports and alumni usually rank higher. Of course this would never be brought up in the discussion of affirmative action because it has been polarized into a white black issue when clearly it affects much more than that. Less woman (adding to those already marginalized) in the workforce, less people from certain geographical settings, and less international students in college. But of course, that wouldn't make the news either! Just my two-cents when no one asked! Love the blog!

Rufus said...

Wow, sorry about the delay! Anyway, the problem with affirmative action is that it tries to fix all of the problems that you mentioned at a point in which it's probably too late. Instead, we start by fighting for better education in Kindergarten and then in first grade, and then... The point is to end the systematic undercutting, not to try to make up for it at a point in which most education is already completed. I've had friends who taught in DC elementary schools and it's an utter disgrace how poor black kids are taught in this country. The schools wouldn't even pay for chalk, much less computers! But most university educators will tell you that, by the time we get them, it's pretty much too late to turn things around. So, for me, affirmative action in college admissions is like giving a terminally ill patient an aspirin.