“Where the Girls Are”

The American Association  of University Women released its report on Tues that tells us more about where boys and girls are in education.  The report seeks to  ‘debunk the myth of a boys’ crisis…’   According to the NY Times, the report maintains that the idea that there is a boys’ crisis is really a distractor that disguises the more fundamental sources of inequity, race and economic class. 

There is a very informative executive summary; if you are involved in the issues, either on belalf of a student or as an educator or advocate, there is a lot to be learned.  Here’s one statement that definitely goes against a lot of the claims we hear, and indeed that we’ve seen in comments here:

High school and college graduation rates present a similar story.

Women are attending and graduating from high school and college at

a higher rate than are their male peers, but these gains have not come

at men’s expense. Indeed, the proportion of young men graduating

from high school and earning college degrees today is at an all-time

high. Women have made more rapid gains in earning college degrees,

especially among older students, where women outnumber men by a

ratio of almost 2-to-1. The gender gap in college attendance is almost

absent among those entering college directly after graduating from

high school, however, and both women and men are more likely to

graduate from college today than ever before.