Here’s one little tidbit I found in his summary of a Dutch study: Men used to read more than women, but this has changed. Why?

I think if you will run a quick search you will find this isn’t really a reading issue. In the US about 58% of the college enrollees are females. Men are dropping out at higher rates in high school, fewer of them are enrolling in college, and fewer of those who enroll are graduating.

There is a lot of debate about what is going on, and little agreement. On the one hand, it appears that boy’s role models are sports stars not professionals. But a contrasting view is that its not a male ‘problem’ but a signal of female success. The number of men has not actually fallen — its just stagnated. The real success story has been the growth of female post-secondary education.

Looking ahead, I would say we have two challenges. 1) Continue the female success into the hard sciences (where they still lag the males). 2) Reinvigorate male interest in post-secondary participation before this stagnation falls into an actual decline.

Michael Harris