The 60-40 Split

The New York Times finally turns its attention to the problem of the 60%-40% imbalance between women and men at our nation's colleges. The specific problem being, of course, that it makes it difficult for all those women to get dates

Ann says: I follow this issue pretty closely and have read a ton of "Boy Troubles" books. The most recent is Richard Whitmire's "Why Boys Fail". Whitmire has a blog by the same name. Since he is making the publicity rounds, he and his book are the initial source for many of the recent stories, and this is his hang-up. For him, the main point is not that the US is losing out on a great deal of brain power, or that women are underrepresented in the sciences (being a physics BA and an engineering MS, I'd say that's by our choice) and thus the country is experiencing a massive dearth in students in the science and tech fields.

No, his main point is often: the chicks won't have anyone to date! Or the corollary: when females in a species far outnumber males, it turns out the males, having their pick of an overabundance of females, can treat women like s&%#, and women either have to go along with it, or go single.

In part, his argument is practical: with women and women's groups well set up for lobbying and being a dominant block of the Democratic party, and with a history that proves women's groups throw fits when you mention boys are doing badly in school, it's simply the only way that he sees the problem being addressed in the future--if women step up and address it. Otherwise, the odds will still be stacked against boys and men.

Sad to say, he's probably right there.