Everyone assumes the gender gap means young women are thriving, but some of it comes from socialization that isn't healthy. Women worry more about their performance and what others think. They are twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Maybe we should consider backing off instead of pushing an equal number of boys to pick at their skin in secret because they can’t handle not being perfect.
I am really happy that I got an undergrad degree even though I'm not "using" my English degree to "make money." (Is anyone, really?) I'm the type of person who enjoys the book-learning process though. (I also met my husband of 17 years in college--we married at the incredible age of 21 with zero objections from our parents, which now makes me question both our upbringings. Worked out, though.)
That being said, my 8 year old watches this idiot on YouTube known for doing destructive stunts in his mansion and a "24 hours in my Lambo" challenge and I'm like well, fuck.
Surely one factor is that men still have some opportunities to earn good money without college that are usually off the table for women as a matter of tradition. When I make a call to implore someone to accept my $800 check for spending a couple of hours to get my heat back on, rarely does a woman show up.
"How do I put this delicately? Guys that age are fucking morons." Well sure, but it was ever thus. What suddenly changed such that the men born in 2002 don't want to go to college, but the ones from most previous years did?
I think it might be too much emphasis on STEM. Everyone acts as though a college degree in a non-STEM field will leave you lolling about in the gutter waiting to be interviewed by the NY Times about how you're $400,000 in student loan debt and can't get a job in your chosen field of penguin photography.
But in reality, where I have lived for years, there are tons of decent-paying boring-ish jobs that involve spreadsheets and project management and financial projections and compliance management and information systems, and you don't need calculus for any of it. They pay upper five figures or lower six figures and come with benefits, and if you live away from the coasts, you'll be fine. But you need a four-year degree. It can be from University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, or Butler University, or Bentley University, or Cal State East Bay. Someplace that your parents probably won't brag about. But why did young men stop showing up at those colleges and sitting through the soc degree or the business degree that would get them to those jobs? Because most of these guys aren't going to be crypto billionaires. They just aren't.
Everyone assumes the gender gap means young women are thriving, but some of it comes from socialization that isn't healthy. Women worry more about their performance and what others think. They are twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Maybe we should consider backing off instead of pushing an equal number of boys to pick at their skin in secret because they can’t handle not being perfect.
I am really happy that I got an undergrad degree even though I'm not "using" my English degree to "make money." (Is anyone, really?) I'm the type of person who enjoys the book-learning process though. (I also met my husband of 17 years in college--we married at the incredible age of 21 with zero objections from our parents, which now makes me question both our upbringings. Worked out, though.)
That being said, my 8 year old watches this idiot on YouTube known for doing destructive stunts in his mansion and a "24 hours in my Lambo" challenge and I'm like well, fuck.
Surely one factor is that men still have some opportunities to earn good money without college that are usually off the table for women as a matter of tradition. When I make a call to implore someone to accept my $800 check for spending a couple of hours to get my heat back on, rarely does a woman show up.
"How do I put this delicately? Guys that age are fucking morons." Well sure, but it was ever thus. What suddenly changed such that the men born in 2002 don't want to go to college, but the ones from most previous years did?
I think it might be too much emphasis on STEM. Everyone acts as though a college degree in a non-STEM field will leave you lolling about in the gutter waiting to be interviewed by the NY Times about how you're $400,000 in student loan debt and can't get a job in your chosen field of penguin photography.
But in reality, where I have lived for years, there are tons of decent-paying boring-ish jobs that involve spreadsheets and project management and financial projections and compliance management and information systems, and you don't need calculus for any of it. They pay upper five figures or lower six figures and come with benefits, and if you live away from the coasts, you'll be fine. But you need a four-year degree. It can be from University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, or Butler University, or Bentley University, or Cal State East Bay. Someplace that your parents probably won't brag about. But why did young men stop showing up at those colleges and sitting through the soc degree or the business degree that would get them to those jobs? Because most of these guys aren't going to be crypto billionaires. They just aren't.