I've coached high school sports teams, both boys and girls, for the last two decades. I've seen some of these trends unfold over the years with my student athletes. My observation is girls are just more motivated than boys, even for something fun like sports practices and workouts, girls in general will show up more consistently than boys. The teachers I've spoken to at the school where I coach have confirmed the same thing with school work. What I've seen is the boys that are successful at school or sports have at least one parent pushing them at home, and from my experience it's often the mother. I'm not trying to downplay the role of positive male role models and their impact, but what it seems like many boys are missing these days is motivation and drive, and that can come from anywhere. I don't know what it is but it just seems like girls are much better at thinking about the future and putting in the work to get where they want to be, boys often need the guidance of an adult to steer them that way, and fewer of them are getting it now.
I'm not disagreeing with your point, but I don't think this entire trend can be blamed on a lack of fathers. I'm fortunate now that I coach at a school in a pretty affluent community, the vast majority of the kids I coach have married parents with active fathers in the house. I still see many of these young men fairly checked out by high school. I think in many of these cases boys are over protected these days, they grow up without the freedom to explore and test themselves and their parents create an environment where it's OK not to try or put forth an honest effort or finish your commitments etc.
Years ago I coached at an inner city school, lots of single moms, I've seen the results first hand. I'd like to think for many of those kids I was a positive male role model, maybe one of the only ones in their life. Unfortunately I don't live in that area anymore.
Schools are structured to benefit girls, and the deck is absolutely stacked against boys. The vast majority of teachers are female, and they mark boys worse for equivalent work. [1] Boys generally require more physical activity than girls, yet the majority of school is "sit down and stare at this whiteboard".
Of course they're less motivated, it's quite literally a rigged game.
I think you're oversimplifying what is a massive systemic issue into two points that, while true, might not contribute as large of an impact as you're assuming.
Also, just in defence of female teachers, I don't think it matters so much that they're women, but that they understand that boys will be boys. Anti-male teachers were, at least in the experience of myself and a friend who went to a different school (we discussed this once), definitely present but firmly in the minority.
High school is a pretty special timeframe where girls on average have more conscientious, adult-like mindsets that their equally-aged male peers. That's a recipe for educational success too. But it doesn't last - males do catch up eventually and might even do better.
This is speculation on my part, but I've felt that it's because women know they may want a child in their lifetime and due to their biological clock it gives them a window to plan back from.
They know they should do it between certain ages which means they need a career which means they need an education e.t.c.
There's nothing equivalent for men, no event they can see coming within a decade or two that helps anchor them in their lives.
I have two elementary-aged children, a boy and a girl. They fit the pattern you describe to a T, and I think most teachers' experience would agree.
So anecdotally, the theory that (in general) boys need more nudging than girls from someone in their life in order to be successful rings true. But what would account for a modern change? Are there fewer people pushing, now? Are boys more resistant to it now, or maybe more distracted? Are expectations of boys different now than they were in the past?
Although your reply is buried beneath a lot other comments, I do think you are right on this! People that prefer book learning and listening (passively) to a teacher have an advantage with the current teaching methodologies than people that prefer hands-on learning..
> Are boys more resistant to it now, or maybe more distracted?
Or perhaps parents are more distracted. Much has been made of how our digital age has made us, as individuals, more distracted and less connected to individuals in our life. For a parent, it doesn't seem unlikely that that would translate to being less invested in their child, or at least not as proactive in this kind of nudging.
I think it's probably some of both. Boys are definitely more distracted with stuff like video games than girls, but then again many girls are absolutely obsessed with social media (TikTok/Snapchat etc) and still manage to succeed in school and sports. I do also think it has to do with the age of maturation, girls just mature earlier than boys.
Has this ever not been the case? I remember that girls were way more mature than boys in HS quite well, it was common knowledge and nobody questioned it. They just don't mature as fast.
