The War Against Boys: How Misguided Policies are Harming Our Young Men

by Christina Hoff Sommers

girls outnumber boys in student government, honor societies, and school newspapers. They also receive better grades,19 do more homework,20 take more honors courses,21 read more books,22 eclipse males on tests of artistic and musical ability,23 and generally outshine boys on almost every measure of classroom success. At the same time, fewer girls are suspended from school, fewer are held back, and fewer drop out.24 In the technical language of education experts, girls are more academically “engaged.”

Men now account for just 43 percent of enrollment in our nation’s colleges, and earn only 43 percent of bachelor’s degrees.

In major cities across the United States, single women ages twenty-two to thirty with no children now earn 8 percent more than their male counterparts (Figure