I enjoyed the article. Hit close to home. was raised by a father who was a fulbright scholar who ended up digging ditches ( eventually got government job). So raised in both a working class community but having a scholarly father ( not toxic ) who appreciated and encouraged education. I definitely fit into the angry male category, but also the " anti-ambition" crowd. the poem about working class life in oregon was profoundly depressing for me, framing a simple blue collar life in such a terrible light, which, for one who yearned to be a creative writing professor, could very well be. But for many of the men who I grew up with, the union construction jobs that they have are life savers... many blue collar types have absolutely no desire to get a master's degree... but to the recent drop out in college... although i think you have identified two forces that are at work, I think the pandemic and the shutdown coupled with the massive indulgence in social media and internet leisure activities has somehow fundamentally altered ambition drives in some of our youths. The drive to focus mental energies so acutely has been blunted easy-going gratifications of the internet. I myself am guilty. the pandemic changed us in more ways than we understand... hahaha maybe this an untenable position but nevertheless some things that one believes aren't tenable.
Good points, Vince. I do not intend to argue that college is a better path, necessarily. Nor do I mean that blue collar careers are inherently less successful. Maybe it's a good thing if college is not seen as the necessary next step after high school? I've had a lot of reluctant students over the years who were in college because they felt they had to be. But I suppose I'd like to see some evidence that people are finding other ways to broaden their horizons. If young men are opting out of college because of cost, that does not suggest that everyone has equal access. Similarly, if the current model of higher education, which assesses learning through informal assignments like reading responses as well as high-stakes papers and exams, compounds a performance gap between men and women, then that seems like a social problem worth exploring. I do not mean that men need some kind of special treatment, like they get at schools like Brandeis, where admissions criteria are lowered to try to balance gender demographics. I think it's still an open question whether K-12 puts young men at a disadvantage when it comes to college. In my experience, the young men who are already privileged do just fine. So there is a socio-economic layer to consider. If George W. Bush had grown up poor, he might very well have opted out of college altogether.
I enjoyed the article. Hit close to home. was raised by a father who was a fulbright scholar who ended up digging ditches ( eventually got government job). So raised in both a working class community but having a scholarly father ( not toxic ) who appreciated and encouraged education. I definitely fit into the angry male category, but also the " anti-ambition" crowd. the poem about working class life in oregon was profoundly depressing for me, framing a simple blue collar life in such a terrible light, which, for one who yearned to be a creative writing professor, could very well be. But for many of the men who I grew up with, the union construction jobs that they have are life savers... many blue collar types have absolutely no desire to get a master's degree... but to the recent drop out in college... although i think you have identified two forces that are at work, I think the pandemic and the shutdown coupled with the massive indulgence in social media and internet leisure activities has somehow fundamentally altered ambition drives in some of our youths. The drive to focus mental energies so acutely has been blunted easy-going gratifications of the internet. I myself am guilty. the pandemic changed us in more ways than we understand... hahaha maybe this an untenable position but nevertheless some things that one believes aren't tenable.
Good points, Vince. I do not intend to argue that college is a better path, necessarily. Nor do I mean that blue collar careers are inherently less successful. Maybe it's a good thing if college is not seen as the necessary next step after high school? I've had a lot of reluctant students over the years who were in college because they felt they had to be. But I suppose I'd like to see some evidence that people are finding other ways to broaden their horizons. If young men are opting out of college because of cost, that does not suggest that everyone has equal access. Similarly, if the current model of higher education, which assesses learning through informal assignments like reading responses as well as high-stakes papers and exams, compounds a performance gap between men and women, then that seems like a social problem worth exploring. I do not mean that men need some kind of special treatment, like they get at schools like Brandeis, where admissions criteria are lowered to try to balance gender demographics. I think it's still an open question whether K-12 puts young men at a disadvantage when it comes to college. In my experience, the young men who are already privileged do just fine. So there is a socio-economic layer to consider. If George W. Bush had grown up poor, he might very well have opted out of college altogether.
I am grateful you are a thoughtful and reflective and observant male.
I am still a work in progress :)