Male inequality, explained by an expert | Richard Reeves

Summary

Richard Reeves, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, discusses the challenges faced by boys and men in modern society in his book 'Of Boys and Men.' He highlights the gender disparity in education, with girls outperforming boys, and the underrepresentation of men in growing job sectors. Reeves calls for policy changes, such as later school starting age for boys, more male teachers, and increased vocational training to address these issues and prevent a vicious cycle of male disadvantage.

Takeaways

• 📚 The education system is currently facing a 'dearth of male teachers', which can impact boys' flourishing in school.
• 👨‍💼 There's a 'dad deficit' or 'father listeners' issue in families, with fewer men present, affecting the development of boys.
• 🚶‍♂️ Men are missing from crucial areas of society and economy, creating a harder path for other men and boys to follow.
• 🏆 Despite progress in gender equality, there's a real danger of a vicious cycle if action isn't taken to address the struggles of boys and men.
• 👧 Girls are outperforming boys in education on almost every measure, leaving boys behind.
• 🎓 The gender gap in college enrollment and completion has reversed since 1972, now favoring women by a wider margin.
• 🧠 Brain development differences between boys and girls, particularly in adolescence, may put boys at a disadvantage in an education system that rewards certain behaviors.
• 🤔 The societal shift towards gender equality has inadvertently highlighted disadvantages for boys and men in the current educational structure.
• 👦 Encouraging boys to start school later and increasing the number of male teachers are suggested measures to address educational disparities.
• 🛠️ Investment in vocational education and training is recommended as a way to help more boys and men succeed in areas where they traditionally excel.
• 💔 The 'deaths of despair' among men, including from suicide and substance abuse, are significantly higher than among women, indicating a broader societal issue.

Q & A

What is the main concern expressed by Richard Reeves regarding the societal perception of discussing issues related to boys and men?

Richard Reeves expresses concern that discussing issues related to boys and men is seen as a fraught subject, especially in politics. He mentions that there is a fear that focusing on the problems of boys and men could imply less effort being paid to girls and women, framing the issue as a zero-sum game where one must choose a side rather than supporting human flourishing as a whole.

How does the absence of men in certain areas of society and economy impact other men and boys, according to Reeves?

Reeves suggests that the absence of men in crucial areas such as education, labor market, and family life makes it harder for other men and boys to flourish. For instance, a lack of male teachers can negatively affect boys' education, and a 'dad deficit' can hinder the development of boys in families.

What is the term used by Richard Reeves to describe the growing phenomenon of men being less present in family life?

Richard Reeves uses the term 'dad deficit' to describe the growing phenomenon of men being less present in family life, which he sees as a significant issue affecting the development of boys.

How has the educational landscape changed in terms of gender disparity, as mentioned by Reeves?

Reeves points out that girls and women have not only caught up to boys and men in education but have surpassed them. He notes that girls are now almost a grade level ahead of boys in English and have caught up in math, with a significant percentage of the top GPA scores belonging to girls and a higher percentage of college degrees being earned by women.

What is the significance of the prefrontal cortex in the context of educational performance, as discussed by Reeves?

The prefrontal cortex, often referred to as the 'CEO of the brain,' is significant in educational performance as it is responsible for decision-making and prioritizing tasks such as doing homework and maintaining a high GPA. Reeves notes that this part of the brain develops earlier in girls than in boys, which may give girls an advantage in an education system that rewards these behaviors.

What are some of the policy recommendations made by Richard Reeves to address the challenges faced by boys and men in education?

Reeves recommends starting boys a year later than girls in school due to the developmental gap, increasing the number of male teachers to provide role models, and investing more in vocational education and training as these areas tend to yield better results for boys and men.

How does Reeves describe the economic trends for men, particularly those lower down the economic ladder?

Reeves describes a downward turn in economic trends for men, especially those lower down the economic ladder. He mentions a drop in wages, a decrease in labor force participation, a decline in occupational stature, and a reduction in the acquisition of skills and education.

What is the term 'HEAL jobs' as used by Richard Reeves, and why is it significant in the context of gender-segregated employment?

The term 'HEAL jobs' stands for 'health, education, administration, and literacy.' Reeves uses it to describe a growing sector of jobs that are becoming increasingly gender-segregated, with a significant drop in the number of male workers in these fields, which he sees as problematic due to the lack of diversity.

What does Richard Reeves refer to as the 'dad deficit,' and how does it impact children, particularly boys?

The 'dad deficit' refers to the phenomenon where fathers are not living with their children or losing contact after separation. Reeves argues that this has a significant impact on children, especially boys, who suffer more in the absence of a father figure, potentially leading to intergenerational disadvantage.

What are the 'deaths of despair' as mentioned by Reeves, and how are they related to the challenges faced by men?

The 'deaths of despair' refer to deaths caused by suicide, overdose, or alcohol, which are three times higher among men than among women. Reeves suggests that these are symptoms of a broader malaise affecting men, particularly those who feel unneeded or worthless in society.

How does Richard Reeves link the opioid crisis to the broader issues affecting men and boys?

Reeves links the opioid crisis to the broader issues affecting men and boys by suggesting that the higher death rates from opioids among men are partly due to the users being isolated and withdrawn. He sees this as a symptom of the loss of role in the family, loss of status in the labor market, and a broader male malaise.

Outlines

00:00

📚 The Challenge of Addressing Male Disadvantages in Education and Society

The first paragraph discusses the contentious nature of focusing on the issues faced by boys and men in today's society, where it's often framed as a zero-sum game with girls and women. Richard Reeves, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, highlights the absence of men in crucial societal roles such as education and the labor market, which negatively impacts boys' development. He emphasizes the rapid progress of girls and women in education, surpassing boys and men, and the resulting challenges in brain development timing during adolescence. Reeves suggests that the education system's structure inadvertently disadvantages boys due to their later brain maturation, proposing solutions such as starting school later for boys and increasing the presence of male teachers.

05:00

🧑‍🏫 Solutions to Educational Disadvantages and Economic Realities for Men

The second paragraph delves into potential solutions for the educational disadvantages faced by boys and men, including the suggestion to start boys in school a year later to align developmental stages with girls. It also addresses the need for more male teachers to balance the gender ratio in the profession and the importance of investing in vocational education and training, which have shown better results for males. Reeves points out the economic trends affecting men negatively, such as wage stagnation, decreased labor force participation, and a decline in occupational stature and skill acquisition. He stresses the importance of considering social class divides and economic inequality in the context of gender inequality, particularly for working-class men and those from lower-income backgrounds.

10:00

👨‍👦‍👦 The 'Dad Deficit' and Its Intergenerational Impact on Boys

The third paragraph examines the concept of a 'dad deficit,' illustrating the absence of fathers in many children's lives and the resulting struggles for boys who lack male role models. It discusses the changing dynamics of family structures, with an increasing number of women outearning men and becoming the main breadwinners. Reeves argues that the traditional model of the breadwinner father is obsolete and contributes to men feeling unneeded and worthless, leading to despair and health issues such as higher rates of suicide and substance abuse among men. The paragraph underscores the need for society to help men find a new sense of purpose and to address the cultural and structural barriers that contribute to the challenges faced by boys and men.

Keywords

💡Gender Equality

Gender equality refers to the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including political, economic, and social equality. In the video, the theme of gender equality is explored in the context of education and the workplace, where historically there was a significant gap favoring men, but recent trends show women surpassing men in education, thus highlighting a reversal of traditional gender roles and the need for a new approach to equality.

💡Zero-Sum

A zero-sum situation is one where one party's gain is exactly balanced by another's loss, implying a fixed amount of resources or success. The script discusses the fear that addressing the issues of boys and men might detract from the efforts towards girls and women, framing gender equality as a zero-sum game where progress for one gender is perceived as a setback for the other.

💡Education System

The education system encompasses the structure and processes by which society provides learning opportunities for its members. The script points out that the current education system has a 'dearth of male teachers' and is structured in a way that may inadvertently disadvantage boys due to the timing of brain development differences between genders.

💡Brain Development

Brain development refers to the process by which the brain of a human being grows and changes over time. The video script highlights that girls' brains develop more quickly than boys', especially during adolescence, which affects their readiness for academic tasks and may influence their performance in school systems that reward certain behaviors.

💡Vocational Education and Training

Vocational education and training (VET) involves practical, occupation-specific training that prepares individuals for specific trades or careers. The script suggests that there should be more investment in VET for boys and men, as it is an area where they tend to have better outcomes and is underinvested in, particularly in the U.S.

💡Gender Segregation

Gender segregation in the workplace refers to the concentration of men and women in different types of jobs or industries. The script discusses the increasing gender segregation in certain sectors like 'HEAL jobs' (health, education, administration, and literacy), where the number of male workers is decreasing, and the need for more diversity in these fields.

💡Dad Deficit

The term 'dad deficit' refers to the absence or reduced involvement of fathers in their children's lives. The script describes this as a significant issue, with one in four fathers not living with their children and a high rate of fathers losing contact after separation or divorce, which can have profound effects on boys' development and well-being.

💡Economic Inequality

Economic inequality refers to the disparities in income, wealth, and economic opportunities among different groups in society. The video script discusses how economic trends for men, particularly those lower down the economic ladder, have turned downwards, with wages, employment, occupational stature, and skill acquisition all declining over the past few decades.

💡Deaths of Despair

Deaths of despair is a term used to describe deaths caused by suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol-related liver diseases, which are often linked to a lack of hope and a sense of worthlessness. The script mentions that these deaths are three times higher among men than women and are indicative of the broader challenges faced by men in society.

💡Intergenerational Disadvantage

Intergenerational disadvantage refers to the transmission of social and economic disadvantages from one generation to the next. The script explains that the absence of fathers can lead to boys suffering more than girls, perpetuating a cycle where boys who grow up without a father figure are more likely to struggle in education and the labor market.

💡Cultural Responsibility

Cultural responsibility implies that society as a whole has a duty to address and rectify social issues. The video script concludes with the idea that both men and women have a collective responsibility to help men and boys adapt to societal changes and to ensure that they do not feel obsolete or unnecessary in the evolving world.

Highlights

Warning against writing about boys and men due to the fraught subject and fear of detracting from girls and women's issues.

The societal and economic challenges faced by men and boys, such as the 'dad deficit' and lack of male teachers, impacting their ability to flourish.

Author's introduction as Richard Reeves, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and his book 'Of Boys and Men'.

Surprising educational achievements of girls and women surpassing those of boys and men in almost every advanced economy.

Historical focus on promoting women and girls in education and the unexpected reversal of gender gaps.

Current gender gap in college enrollment and completion favoring women, contrasting the situation in 1972.

Debate on differences between male and female brains, particularly the timing of brain development during adolescence.

The advantage of girls' earlier brain development in an education system that rewards certain behaviors.

The irony of women's educational progress revealing a system structured against boys due to brain development timing.

Proposal to encourage boys to start school later and the need for more male teachers.

The need for more investment in vocational education and training for boys and men.

Economic trends for men worsening in wages, employment, occupational stature, and skill acquisition.

The amplified challenges for working-class men and the importance of addressing both gender and social class divides.

The gender segregation in growing job sectors like HEAL, and the need for more men in these roles.

The 'dad deficit' and its impact on children, especially boys, and the need to reinvent fatherhood.

The connection between men's roles in society, economic changes, and the rise in 'deaths of despair'.

The cultural responsibility to help men and boys adjust to societal changes and address the male malaise.

Transcripts

- A number of people warned me against writing a book

about boys and men because it's such a fraught subject,

particularly in politics right now,

and because so many people were afraid

that merely drawing attention to the problems of boys

and men was implying somehow less effort being paid

to girls and women; that it's framed as zero-sum.

And it's sort of a who's side are you on question:

and you have to be on one side or the other,

rather than just being on the side of human flourishing.

One of the real challenges here is that if there are men

missing from certain crucial areas of our society

and our economy, that makes it harder for other men and boys

to flourish in those areas.

We have an education system that has a dearth

of male teachers.

We have a labor market where the jobs

that are growing fastest are ones where we have

the fewest men-

and in families there's the growth in what you might call

the 'dad deficit' or 'father listeners.'

As men are struggling in each of those areas,

what you'll see is it'll be harder for other men

to follow in their footsteps.

It's harder for boys to flourish

if their fathers aren't engaged.

It's harder for men to enter occupations

where there aren't men.

It's harder for boys to do well at school

where there are no male teachers to be seen.

And so, there's a very real danger

that unless we act quite soon, that we will set in train

something of a vicious cycle.

I'm Richard Reeves.

I'm a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution,

and my latest book is "Of Boys and Men:

Why the Modern Male Is struggling,

Why That Matters, and What to Do about It."

The overall picture is, that on almost every measure,

at almost every age, and in almost every advanced economy

in the world, the girls are leaving the boys way behind,

and the women leaving the men.

What nobody expected was that girls and women

wouldn't just catch up to boys and men in education,

but would blow right past them and keep going.

Everyone was very focused, quite rightly,

on getting to gender equality, getting to gender parity.

It's not that long ago where there was a huge gender gap

the other way, and there was huge focus, correctly,

in the 70s and 80s to really promote

women and girls in education.

But the line just kept going-and nobody predicted that.

Nobody was saying, "What if gender inequality reemerges

in just as big a way as now, in some cases bigger,

but the other way around?"

And to some extent, everyone's still trying to get

their head around this new world where,

at least in education,

when you talk about gender inequality,

you are pretty much always talking about the ways

in which girls and women are ahead of boys and men.

And that's happened in a very, very short period

of human history.

So if you look at the U.S., for example,

in the average school district in the U.S.,

girls are almost a grade level ahead of boys

in English, and have caught up in math.

If we look at those with the highest GPA scores,

the top 10%, two-thirds of those are girls.

If we look at those at the bottom,

two-thirds of those are boys.

When it comes to going to college,

there's a 10 percentage gap in college enrollment;

a similar size gap in completing college,

conditional on enrolling.

And the result of those trends is that the gender gap

in getting a college degree is now wider

than it was in 1972, but the other way around.

So in 1972, when Title IX was passed to promote

more gender equality in education,

there was a 13 percentage point gap

in favor of men getting college degrees.

Now there's a 15 percentage point gap

in favor of women getting college degrees.

So the gender inequality we see in college today

is wider than it was 50 years ago-

it's just the other way around.

There's quite a fierce debate about the differences

between male and female brains.

And in adulthood, I think there's not much evidence

that the brains are that different in ways

that we should worry about,

or that are particularly consequential.

But where there's no real debate

is in the timing of brain development.

It is quite clear that girls brains develop

more quickly than boys brains do,

and that the biggest difference

seems to occur in adolescence.

So what happens, is in adolescence,

we develop what neuroscientists call the prefrontal cortex.

The prefrontal cortex of our brain is sometimes known

as the "CEO of the brain."

It's the bit of your brain that says,

"You should do your chemistry homework

rather than going out to party."

It's the bit of your brain that says it is worth

maintaining a high GPA 'cause it'll help you get to college,

which might help you in the future.

And that bit of the brain develops considerably earlier

in girls than in boys, between one and two years earlier.

Partly because girls go into puberty a bit earlier than boys

and that seems to trigger some of this development.

What that means is that if you have an education system

that rewards the ability to turn in homework,

stay on task, worry about your GPA, prepare for college,

and so on, then, just structurally, that's going to put

at an advantage the group whose brains

have developed earlier in those particular areas-

and that turns out on average to be girls.

I think it's a great irony of women's progress

that by taking the breaks off

women's educational opportunities and aspirations,

we've revealed the fact that the education system

is slightly structured against boys and men,

because of these differences in the timing

of brain development.

But it took the women's movement to show that,

because the natural advantages of women in education

were impossible to see when women's aspirations

were being capped by a sexist society.

Now that those caps have been largely removed,

we can see that it's boys and men who are at disadvantage

in the education system.

At the risk of sounding boring, let's collect the data first

so we know what we are dealing with here.

I do think that we should be strongly encouraging boys

to start school a year later than girls.

I think that should become the default

in many school districts because of the developmental gap

that there is between boys and girls.

Because boys brains mature more slowly,

then them starting school a year later would mean

that they were developmentally closer to being peers

with the girls in the classroom.

We need a lot more male teachers.

It's striking that the teaching profession

has become steadily more female over time.

Only 24% of K-12 teachers, now, are male-

that's down from 33% in the 80s-

and fewer men are applying to teacher training year on year.

And so, we've seen this steady shift

towards a close to an all-female environment;

that has all kinds of consequences for the ethos

of the school, for the way we deal with different kinds

of behavior among boys and girls, for example.

And so we need a very serious and intentional effort

to get more men into teaching.

The third thing I would do in this world

where I have significant power to dictate policies,

would be significantly more investment

in vocational education and training:

That is an area where we do seem to see better results

for boys and men on average,

and one that's woefully underinvested in in the U.S.

The U.S. has really bet most of its dollars

on a very academic, a very narrow route towards success,

and less emphasis on vocational training.

And that has actually put boys and men at a disadvantage-

so apprenticeships, technical high schools,

are actually a really good way to help more boys and men.

I think one of the challenges with this debate

is that if you're talking to women and men who are,

say, at the top of the economic ladder-

four-year college degrees, decent incomes-

they look around and they don't see some of these issues.

But that's not the same for working-class men;

that's not the same for men lower down the economic ladder.

So there's a danger that we're so busy,

to borrow Sheryl Sandberg's phrase:

"So busy leaning in that we don't look down."

The reality for men further down the ladder

is very different.

The economic trends for men have turned downwards

along four dimensions.

One is wages:

Most men today earn less than most men did in 1979.

In employment, with a drop in labor force participation

of eight percentage points, which means nine million men now

of prime age are not working.

We've seen a drop in occupational stature,

and so, there are now more men working in employment areas

which are seen as lower status than they were in the past.

And we've also seen a drop in the acquisition of skills,

the kinds of skills and education that boys and men need.

If boys don't get educated and men don't get skilled,

they will struggle in the labor market.

And across all of those domains, we've seen a downwards turn

for men in the last four or five decades.

And so the way in which social class divides have opened up,

economic inequality has widened, is really important

to understand in the context of gender inequality.

If we only focus on gender gaps, then we miss the fact

that both men and women at the top

have done increasingly well.

But that's much less true of everybody else,

and especially it's less true

of those from lower-income backgrounds,

working-class boys and men, and Black boys and men.

You see many of those trends are amplified,

and so those boys and men are really at the sharpest end

of many of the social and economic changes.

On the one hand, we have a huge and successful

and laudable effort to get more women into STEM jobs.

So 'science, technology, engineering, and math.'

On the other side, we have what I call "HEAL jobs."

So that's 'health, education, administration, and literacy.'

Almost, if you like, the opposite side of the coin

to STEM jobs-

and that's where a lot of the jobs are coming from.

Health and education alone are huge and growing sectors

in the U.S., and so by my estimates,

for every one job we're gonna create in STEM

between now and 2030, we're gonna create three in HEAL jobs.

But those jobs are at least as gender-segregated

as STEM jobs, but in the other direction,

and unlike STEM becoming more so over time;

so if you look at the HEAL sector, only 24% of the workers

in those sectors are male, and that number is falling.

And in particular sectors, we are seeing a really

precipitous drop in the number of men.

We have a drop in the number of male teachers.

We have a very sharp drop

in the number of male psychologists;

that's dropped from 39% male to 29% male

in the last decade alone.

And among psychologists under the age of 30,

only 5% are male.

So we roll that forward, and we're going to see psychology

becoming essentially almost an all-female profession.

So these jobs, which are both crucial, I think,

for society, and where it'd be very useful to have

more diversity, are actually becoming

more gender-segregated,

and so we have absolutely no effort to get more men

into HEAL jobs, which is where I think the future lies,

and where we should be helping men to move.

One of the problems that we face is what I call in the book

a 'dad deficit.'

And that can be seen in various different ways:

So one in four fathers don't live with their children.

If parents split up, they're much more likely

to lose contact with their fathers than with their mothers-

and so one in three children, if their parents split up,

don't see their father at all

after a few years post the separation.

So this fatherlessness is something

that's very, very specific.

And when 4 in 10 children are born outside marriage,

and most children, to less educated parents

are born outside marriage,

then we have to reinvent what it means to be a father,

because right now men are still being held

to an old standard of what it meant to be

a successful father in a world where that is neither

possible for many of them, or even desirable,

because what we've seen is, as women have grown

in economic power and economic independence,

then of course they're going to choose to be with a man

rather than being forced to, as in the old days.

This is probably the greatest liberation in human history,

honestly, that women can now choose

whether to be with a man or not.

More than 2 out of 5 households in the U.S. now,

a woman is the main breadwinner.

40% of American women earn more than the average man.

These are huge economic changes, and all for the good,

but it does pose some really sharp questions

about what fathers are for.

And until we escape the obsolete model

of the breadwinner father, then we will continue to see

more and more men being left out of family life.

And the kicker is that boys in families

that don't have a father presence

suffer much more than girls.

And so then what happens is that male disadvantage

can become intergenerational

because if the fathers are struggling,

and therefore not really involved in their kids' lives,

then the boys are the ones who suffer most,

who will then go

on to struggle themselves in education,

and in the labor market.

It's clear by now that marriage and social institutions

and a sense of purpose matter to men.

And so as we've seen these real challenges faced by men

in education, work, and the family,

you're seeing some really difficult

and troubling health consequences.

And so, the so-called 'deaths of despair'

from suicide, overdose, or alcohol,

three times higher among men than among women.

Suicide itself, three times higher among men than women,

and rising very quickly,

especially among middle-aged men and younger men.

So we can see these as symptoms, I think,

of a broader malaise,

which is what's troubling boys and men.

And for men in particular,

this sense of purpose is very important.

I think it's a human universal that we need to be needed.

There's a wonderful piece of work by an academic

called Fiona Chan, who looked at the last words

that men had used to describe themselves

before committing suicide, or attempting suicide.

And the top of the list were "worthless" and "useless."

I think if we create a society in which so many men

do feel like they're not needed,

then it's no surprise that we see these deaths of despair.

We see problems with opioids-

opioids are a much bigger problem for men

than they are for women-

and one of the great tragedies of opioid deaths

is the death rates are higher in part

because the users are on their own.

And so, in some ways, the opioid epidemic

is a perfect illustration of a whole series of things

we are talking about:

which is a loss of role in the family,

a loss of status in the labor market,

turning to drugs, and being isolated and withdrawn.

And so in that example, I think you can see a symptom

of this broader, male malaise that we just need

to take it more seriously.

And we have a cultural responsibility, as a society,

men and women together, to help men and boys

to adjust to this new world-

because, right now, many of them are really struggling.