Boys are getting left behind. I teach school and regularly get flyers and emails offering "opportunities" for girls. NO boys allowed. Come attend this special conference just for girls. I constantly email back saying "what about the boys?"

What is happening to the boys isn't fair. Offer the opportunities. Just offer them to everyone.

IBID

After raising one daughter and two sons....I absolutely agree with the previous. The girls are encouraged and applauded and can't do anything wrong; and the boys can't do anything right. They are almost totally erased. Tremendous potential in boys is actually extinguished.

If you are a young man, take charge of your own education in spite of whatever your "school institution" does. Try to determine the endeavors that make you happy. Follow your own dreams. Do not let the bureaucrats in the schools undermine you. Follow your own dreams.

I think a lot of the opportunities are, or would be, available to the boys. The boys either don't want them or are the lobsters in the pot dragging the girls and the whole process down. Too many of them see education as a waste of time, and instead want to seek glamour of sport or find their acceptance as some idiot quasi gangster...not the kind of kid someone wanting to offer an enhanced educational program wants around. The girls seem a bit better, especially when the boys are not around. I don't see this trend as a good thing necessarily, but it does seem to be the way things are going.

Along the lines of the first 2 comments. That actually crossed my mind also. I would like to see a study over time showing whether we have increased the girls test scores, or have we reduced the boys tests scores over the last 20-30 years? I think that would be a more telling study.

It seems to me that everyone in our society is getting a pass except for the young white male. We have politically corrected ourselves into an anti-white, anti-male society where reverse racism/sexism is at its highest. Instead of praising a stay at home mom, we praise the single mother. Instead of praising family values, we promote promiscuity and shacking up. Instead of spending time with our kids we rely on government/private programs to raise our kids. We have lost the values this country was founded on. "sigh" Sorry, my last little rant went off track a bit, but just venting some frustration :)

I just love another flawed educational research study. They throw out that "millions" are part of the study but fail to acknowledge that the changes in curriculum are directly responsible for the changes in performance and eliminating gender and genetics altogether. It is interesting to me that now that boys are receiving the same treatment that girls did with regard to math education in American they are now equals! It just doesn't add up.

To Anonymous at 7:19

It is exactly that stereotype that is causing all the problems. I teach 7th grade and can tell you that there are just as many boys as girls that are interested in doing well in school.

Boys aren't "dragging the girls down" any more than the girls drag the boys down.

I applaud the opportunities the groups are giving to the students. I just wish they would be given to everyone.

Examples:

We have MESA (math, engineering, science achievement). It is geared towards girls and non-white males. Seriously.

Expand your horizons - a girls science program at UVU. This was girls only for several years although to their credit I believe they are now running a boys program as well.

Science Power - A girls only science program run at BYU.

There is also a science week long camp at U of U that I can't remember the name of.

All of these are great programs and opportunities.

We're just leaving the boys behind.

"If you plan on being a full-time homemaker or elementary school teacher, you may think you don't need math," said Hyde, a psychology professor. "But if you're thinking about a serious career — and want to make sure it is lucrative or prestigious — you'll take more math."

Why do women that have careers outside the home have to make such denigrating remarks about women that chose to be in the home? Why isn't being a full-time mother "a serious career"? Why wouldn't a mother that helps or teaches her children with school need to have math background?

Why doesn't an elementary school teacher need math background? Honestly, from the standpoint of a high school and college science teacher, when I see students that come out of the elementary school with little or no exposure to science; and math is treated as something to be feared, it is no wonder. If they have been taught by math-phobic elementary school teachers, it makes perfect sense.

These types of statements are every bit as damaging to the female psyche as "boys are better in math than girls". Our society needs well educated full-time homemakers! We need math-oriented elementary school teachers!

I would be curious to know if the increase in standardized testing as an evaluation tool had some kind of effect on the closing of the gender gap. Is it the tool that is used to evaluate that has forced the change or is it cultural as the article suggests, or is it a little of both?

Another thought, maybe the boys counter productive sport thug mentality attitude exists because they are being pushed out of academics culturally. I think teachers used to give more positive reinforcement to boys, maybe the girls get that a little more now.

I've been teaching school for 24 years and I've also seen a shift. Many years ago I saw girls excelling in language areas while boys were excelling in science and math. This distinction is not so prevalent today. Personally, I believe it's more due to boys losing their edge rather than girls increasing their ability.

I also see a lot more boys being referred to special education services for learning disabilities. Visit your local school and just peek in the resource room and you'll probably see 70% boys and 30% girls. That's about the ratio I'm seeing lately. I also notice that boys are referred for behavioral services much more than girls which includes such things as ADHD.

Sadly, students entering my classroom today appear less prepared and of lower ability than students of yesteryear. Students of today tend to struggle with basic math and also do not read as much as students have done in past years. Maybe this is a shift in home dynamics. It is frustrating, however, when expectations rise year after year yet students are seemingly less motivated and prepared.

So where are we headed here? The girls get encouraged to do well through extra help and encouragement the boys get discouraged. The girls go on to college and get advanced degrees, the boys get a job at the oil lube place, totally discouraged by the education system. Boys don't like to be beaten by girls. When it comes time to get married and have families who is the breadwinner, how does the family work? There are some ominous consequences out there.

"boys don't like to be beaten by girls" . . . that is just not a helpful attitude. Why do the achievements or gifts of one person threaten the gifts or talents of another? This "us against them" mentality needs to stop when it comes to gender. The family works just fine when there is balance and respect, and having both mother and father with some kind of education/skills and a good work ethic can only add to a positive family life. Any man who is threatened by an intelligent woman needs to examine his own insecurities and sense of self worth - the fault is not with the woman.

"Boys don't like to be beaten by girls. When it comes time to get married and have families who is the breadwinner, how does the family work" What an unfortunate statement! Not only does this indicate that women should sub comb to some male ego, but that by men "winning", by becoming the breadwinner,women then "lose" in doing the family work. I would hope that in our society we are all treated equally and each strive to teach our children to reach their own BEST POTENTIAL in whatever area of study that may be in, regardless of gender stereotypes. By no means should this include an attempt to hold someone back to help another succeed, however, if special programs help individuals to overcome negative stereotypes then lets support those positive programs. At least until those negative stereotypes disappear.

Could it be that the authors of this study affirmed their own world view with the "findings"? It's clear there are strong differences of opinion, but why not look more closely to check the validity of the study? That is not to say that the findings were not valid, but that given the strong opinions of the authors and their personal interest in self-affirmation regarding their life choices (who doesn't have this interest?), we should be careful not to swallow the study whole without blinking. On the surface though, it sounds like "science-as-propaganda" to me.

I am a female math teacher and it's true, our boys are getting the short end of the stick. I'm all for female math power, but boys need the power too and we are failing them. If we don't promote programs to help them achieve like we have done for the girls, we will pay the price in 15 years.