Women (and, more to the point, girls) outperform men and boys, on average, in verbal ability and grades up to and through college. This doesn’t show up much at the highest levels of intelligence/educational attainment, where boys perform well, but it’s significant in the midrange. Boys are also less likely to be compliant students (absenteeism, discipline problems, tardiness are more common with boys) which has long-term effects on their educational prospects.
Midrange colleges have to engage in significant affirmative action for boys to get a 50⁄50 gender balance. Women are also more likely than men to pursue post-college education of some kind. (Don’t visualize a top-tier engineering PhD, visualize a midrange master’s in social work.)
So, if current trends continue (more credentialization, more need for writing in the workplace, more of a culture of compliance) the average man will be at a disadvantage compared to women, even if the top men continue to earn the top salaries. (Note: I’m not sure how long these trends will continue. And I’m not sure they’re good, either—there might be bad effects to credential inflation and to stigmatizing rebellious/non-compliant attitudes.)
Women (and, more to the point, girls) outperform men and boys, on average, in verbal ability and grades up to and through college. This doesn’t show up much at the highest levels of intelligence/educational attainment, where boys perform well, but it’s significant in the midrange. Boys are also less likely to be compliant students (absenteeism, discipline problems, tardiness are more common with boys) which has long-term effects on their educational prospects.
Midrange colleges have to engage in significant affirmative action for boys to get a 50⁄50 gender balance. Women are also more likely than men to pursue post-college education of some kind. (Don’t visualize a top-tier engineering PhD, visualize a midrange master’s in social work.)
So, if current trends continue (more credentialization, more need for writing in the workplace, more of a culture of compliance) the average man will be at a disadvantage compared to women, even if the top men continue to earn the top salaries. (Note: I’m not sure how long these trends will continue. And I’m not sure they’re good, either—there might be bad effects to credential inflation and to stigmatizing rebellious/non-compliant attitudes.)
Most of my evidence comes from Richard Whitmire.