Lower male enrollment inspires conference

By James McEchron

Where have all the men gone?
According to Rob Nielson, executive dean of student services, everywhere but college.
“Some of them go to work,” said Nielson. “There’s more jobs available to men who are just out of high school, like construction, automotive, those sorts of things. The thing is that the rate at which women are going to college is increasing much faster than the rate at which men are.”

According to statistics from the Department of Education, males made up just 44 percent of higher education enrollments. It is projected that with more males dropping out of college, the ratio in another four years will be 60 – 40. “The conference is about this challenge men are facing in the world today,” said Nielson. “We’re finding the way in which we educate boys isn’t working very well. We’re tracking from an early elementary age to judge the system we’re using.”

What has been found is that one in four women who are freshmen in college will mathematically be unable to find a male to date. “This is a sociological and societal issue; we’re getting women that are highly educated and there aren’t any highly educated males for them.”

MHCC is hosting a conference April 28 to discuss the trend. “Warren Brown, M.A., and Bret Burkholder, M.A., will be coming down from Washington,” said Nielson. “They’ve been doing this sort of thing for 15 years.” The event will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Town and Gown Room. “It’s limited to around 50 people,” said Nielson. “But for those in attendance, it will be very hands-on and interactive. These speakers are kind of the national leaders in terms of the amount of research they’ve done. We’re excited to be hosting it.”

The thing that has researchers puzzled is the apparent stigma in male minds. “Dental hygienists and nurses are well paid. Those are very good jobs, and there’s no practical reason why men shouldn’t be in those jobs,” said Nielson. “Men seem to think that those are girl jobs. Females however don’t have that same boundary. Women have gone into construction in record numbers. Men don’t seem to have that same societal freedom.”
The event will look at commercials to show how men are portrayed and typecast. “Commercials downplay men, and we’re looking at why,” said Nielson.

Nielson isn’t sure what can be done to resolve the issue. “It’s a big thing to change and I don’t know that we can change it,” said Nielson. “Boys don’t do well in the current system. When they just have to sit there in a classroom they struggle. They need a release of energy every now and then to better focus in class. This isn’t a boys versus girls type of thing. We’re just trying to understand what is happening. School take away competition and monitor recess for safety and liability issues, but those things being cut out is affecting males in a negative way.”