But who is your daughter going to Marry?
The numbers for Women CEO’s in the Fortune 500 are still an anemic 10%. Women still make only 84 cents on the dollar compared to men. This is what grabs the headlines while an equally dramatic story goes untold. Men are sinking like a rock worldwide. Men are not adapting to the world as it exists today, and they are failing in some very profound ways, that are very dangerous for individuals, families, and societies!
-3 out of 4 deaths of despair (overdose and suicide) are men.
-More women than men earning degrees and men drop out of college at a much higher rate and never to return. In the US 57% of all Bachelor’s degrees go to women. In Ireland it is 77%!
-33% of men with a High School diploma are OUT OF THE WORKFORCE. They don’t show up in unemployment rates because they are no longer even looking for a job. They have given up that they will find work.
-Boys are 50% more likely to fail in math, science and reading, worldwide, then their female classmates.
-Men keep looking for their father’s (grandfather’s) job that has been off shored or is done by robots. They end up angry and resigned to failure.
-Women have made gains in STEM jobs Men have made no gains in HEAL (Health Education, Administration and Literacy) jobs, the jobs of the future.
-Girls account for two thirds of the students with GPAs in the top 10% High Schoolers.
-College educated women expect to marry college educated men. But the degree gap means there are not enough men to go around!
- 14% of men report they have no friends, not one. A recipe for loneliness, depression substance abuse, violence, and early death. This number was only 3% in 2009.
- Role models: You are more likely to run into a female fighter pilot than a male kindergarten teacher. By 2030, 90% of graduating psychologists will be women. Male role models are evaporating.
- A significant number of young men are withdrawing to one room or their parent’s basement. There are 500,000 Hikikomori (shut-ins) in Japan have become the focus of much attention from parents and government programs. Shut-ins are not good for the economy or society. Japanese men have become so out of step that women prefer NOT being married at all! This leads to a .7 % birthrate which is a CRISIS for a capitalistic society which need more customers and taxpayers to make things work.
To be very clear women doing better has nothing to do with men doing worse. This is not a zero-sum game. There are factors on both sides effecting the results.
1. The executive function in boy’s brains matures 2 years later than in girls. Do my chemistry homework or play more video games? An executive function decision. Richard Reeves of the Brookings Institute recommends “red shirting” boys and having them start kindergarten a year later than girls.
2. Reeves also notes that 50% of the seats in High School in Germany are devoted to Vocational classes designed to produce the carpenters, mechanics, and solar techs of the future in the US its 5%. Boys also need to be encouraged to consider HEAL jobs. Nursing, teaching etc.
3. Role Models. We men who have been fortunate enough to do well in today’s world need to step up and mentor the young men who need good healthy role models not just in work but in healthy relationships. Without us stepping up the Andrew Tate’s of the world jump in as role models selling perverse misogyny and exaggerated materialism to young boys on the internet. Boys are starved for positive male attention. They will follow those who appear to care.
4. Government needs to step in and make school relevant to the needs of today’s economic marketplace so young men can see they have a future worth working for.
5. Men must learn to handle change better. The inability to process emotion leaves men out of step in every phase of their lives.
Sociologists agree there is nothing in the world more dangerous than an angry young man with no job, or relationships. They will resort to violence and destructive rage.
For us, we will address these issues (beyond the awareness of this article) in two ways. These issues will be the theme for this year’s Advanced Men’s Course©. Men, Relationships and Work© has been revamped to address these issues as well. Both courses will use Richard Reeves book “Of Boys and Men Why the model male is struggling, why it matters and what to do about It” as pre-work. The Advanced Men’s Course© (October 21-23) is available to graduates of our other courses. Men Relationships and Work© (December 10-12) is open to graduates and non-Graduates of our courses. See the course schedule or website for course specifics.
As always, we invite your comments.
