I find it rather amusing that this is the top story on the page and the last of the news items today is that fewer schools are employing affirmative action.

Perhaps when white men are severly underrepresented in the universities we will suddenly remember that it is useful?

That’s probably just the cynic in me...

timfc, at 11:17 am EDT on June 3, 2005

Those who have commented negatively so far might not if they had an attractive, smart daughter at a liberal arts college who couldn’t find a date, or ends up “marrying down” intellectually if she wants to have a family or just not die alone.

E. Gordon, at 4:46 pm EDT on June 3, 2005

Hair of the Dog

timfc writes, “I find it rather amusing that this is the top story on the page and the last of the news items today is that fewer schools are employing affirmative action. Perhaps when white men are severly underrepresented in the universities we will suddenly remember that it isuseful?”

I don’t think so. To the extent that the “gaps” are simply the result of individual preferences, choices and levels of ability, I don’t see any problem. But problems do exist. Programs aimed at encouraging young people to pursue careers in science, mathematics or engineering are always directed towards “women and minorities.” Young white males who might benefit from a bit of social encouragment don’t get any. They might also note the massive efforts by colleges and universities to use “affirmative action” to increase the hiring of “women and minorities” in the name of “diversity.” Read, for example, the City Journal article, Harvard’s Diversity Grovel (http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon_06_03_05hm.html)by Heather Mac Donald.

Any young person interested in a technical or scientific career might notice the fact that many jobs in such fields are being sent off-shore, and that cheap foreign labor is being imported to compete with American born andeducated job candidates.

If these issues are addressed, there will, of course, still be “gaps” — mechanical engineering programs will be more male, creative writing programs will be more female, etc. — but, overall, the system will be more fair. That is what white males need: fairness, not the hair ofthe affirmative action dog that is biting them.

larry, right-wing blogger, at 9:21 am EDT on June 5, 2005

Where the men went

Perhaps this has been a longer trend, but it seems to me there is a war going on. This tends to impact male enrollments.

Another issue is a successful “conservative” campaign of making campuses look like places that condone the harassment white males. This is, according to federal case law, illegal now, but the public and some campuses are not aware. Having been harassed from time to time before the case law was established and afterwards due to my not knowing the change, I know the reputation is partially earned. It will take some effort to erase this stigma.

Where do they go? If a man can get a job with little or no education that pays over $50,000/year and a man who spends 4-9 years on college tuition fees gets paid less than $40,000 per year, which man ends up with more money in the long run, assuming that retirement investments are stable? Perhaps we should consider this when making assertions about intelligence... Particularly when women make it crystal clear that, as far as dating (and especially marriage) is concerned, money matters. Working in higher ed, I sometimes get a look at those national statistics on median income and have to wonder how I don’t come close to the median or the mean income... Did I spend all those years on education just to be paid even less than if I had just started working right out of high school? I expect our more intelligent young men are seeing these statistics and asking the same questions themselves.I’ve had some interesting converstations with male students along these lines. One former student decided it was better to work for a factory while the opportunity was available. Thanks to the local labor union, I work harder than he does while he makes about twice as much. It doesn’t have to be factory work. There are also police, fire, construction, and other jobs that offer pay similar to what a college graduate can expect to make without the time and money spent on a degree. When I see my next job opportunity offering little more in compensation than what I could have expected from working over the whole time I spent on education, I have to ask myself if I made the right decision and if this path was really wiser.

Ian, at 5:19 pm EDT on July 22, 2005