debate on boy child education in favour essay

Boys enjoy educational advantages despite being less engaged in school than girls

Subscribe to the brown center on education policy newsletter, jaymes pyne jp jaymes pyne quantitative research associate, john gardner center - stanford university @jaymes_pyne.

July 30, 2020

Girls are more engaged in school than boys, and that is a big reason girls (and women) tend to do better educationally . But rather than thinking of engagement as an educational advantage, we might better consider it as protective to girls, who confront many other disadvantages in school and life.

This is the takeaway of a research brief I recently published in the journal Educational Researcher. Nationally, girls do better than boys on reading tests but trail boys on math tests. I analyzed nationally representative data on boys’ and girls’ fifth-grade reading and math test scores and reports of their classroom behavioral engagement throughout elementary school. I found that if there were no gender differences in behavioral engagement patterns through elementary school, fifth-grade reading test score gaps could reverse and math test score gaps could triple in size .

That means focusing simply on increasing boys’ behavioral engagement in school overlooks unaddressed needs of girls. It may be time to reconsider what we mean when we say that girls have behavioral “advantages” over boys in school.

What is behavioral engagement, and why do girls have more of it than boys?

Behavioral engagement is participation in the work and social life of school in ways educators value and expect. That means following classroom expectations like raising your hand, respecting others’ personal boundaries, turning assignments in on time, and responding appropriately to negativity—among many more positive behaviors expected in class. Underlying behavioral engagement is a wide-ranging set of social and behavioral skills that families instill well before children enter school and skills that children learn along the way while in school.

The literature is divided on why girls seem more engaged in school than boys. One perspective emphasizes gender (and class) bias on the part of mostly middle-class, female teachers who evaluate students’ behaviors. Another perspective emphasizes gender socialization —that girls tend to be raised to behave in ways that align with how educators expect all students to behave. Although both can be true, some work using national data casts doubt on the teacher bias narrative by presenting evidence of a direct link between behavioral engagement and later learning. This suggests girls’ higher behavioral engagement likely stems from gendered ways of socializing young children prior to and during elementary school.

Why would boys score higher if they were as engaged as girls?

Since girls are more engaged than boys, equalizing engagement could lead to large reading and math achievement gaps favoring boys. Part of the explanation is that gender gaps on achievement tests have a lot to do with engagement and motivation to take the test itself . If boys were engaged in school more generally, it’s reasonable to believe that would translate to boys wanting to do better on these tests. However, my and other research suggests it’s not likely to be just a question of boys being more intelligent and underperforming because they lack interest in doing well on the test.

What is it then about schools that helps boys, even when they aren’t very engaged? Existing literature helps us understand.

First, girls aren’t encouraged to be interested in the same intellectual pursuits as boys. For example, although explanations of gender STEM gaps vary, research has shown that gender bias can arise through parents’ and teachers ’ own anxieties about STEM subjects and their beliefs about boys’ and girls’ natural abilities in STEM fields. Those early redirections ripple into adulthood— women still lag men in engineering, physical science, and computer science degree attainment –but are not necessarily due to differences in academic ability. For example, a recent study shows that low-achieving men are much more likely to major in physics, engineering, and computer science relative to low-achieving women after accounting for a range of student-level factors.

Second, other behaviors in school are sanctioned and rewarded differently by gender. Girls may be socialized early in life in ways that help them engage in school, but educators and peers informally reward and reinforce hegemonic masculinity and, with it, boys’ superiority and flouting of school rules. For example—as Michela Musto has recently shown us –boys misbehave more than girls in class, but teachers and peers also encourage and reward boys to engage by challenging girls’ perspectives and dominating discussions. In the end? Peers regard (usually white) intelligent boys as much more “exceptional” than otherwise similarly intelligent girls.

Where to go from here?

At the very least, this research challenges the perspective that girls have taken a resounding advantage in educational pursuits due to legal, political, and advocacy movements over the last 50 years. That perspective does correctly recognize the social and economic consequences of ignoring boys’ comparatively languishing behavioral performances in schools. Yet a simple focus on improving boys’ outcomes will certainly uncover remaining constraints on girls in schools and society at large. That will include some interventions that we are aware of, such as encouraging girls to build confidence and aspire to enter STEM fields . Others may be clear only after looking under the gilded veneer of high engagement that helps girls shine in school.

BOY-CHILD EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS ON NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

This article is an in-depth study on boy-child education in Nigeria. This is not a debate between boy-child education and girl-child education which is more important and why, rather it is a research that constructively calls the attention of all and sundry to the neglect of the boy-child education and its implications on National development. When the boy-child is not educated on positive line of thoughts like peace, love, obedience, humility and loyalty, he develops his mind with negative thoughts like greed, theft, jealousy, arrogance and violence. The importance of the boy-child education to the development of any nation cannot be overemphasised. Sustainability of the development of any nation remains a hoax if education is not made for all. The boy-child is neglected because he is perceived to be a superhuman. A child is a child, irrespective of colour, creed, gender or race. In his quest to be educated, the boy-child faces so many issues such as poverty, poor performance in examinations, lack of concentration, lack of adequate security, corruption and gender bias. The paper made the following recommendations: education should be provided for all without discrimination; government should examine and revive the curriculum and teachings in classes that are not gender biased; Peace education should be included in the educational curriculum; the government should propagate laws making boy-child education compulsory in Nigeria and the mindset of the people should also be changed against the notion that boys are better than girls.

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This is an attempt to critically investigate the growing disparities in gender enrollment in basic education in Nigeria. This paper examine some of the alarming issues that promote girl-child illiteracy in Nigeria and thereby examine the success and failure of policy in place to bridge the gap in boy/girl literacy rate in the country. It therefore conclude that this policy has not achieved a significant success in addressing the chronic disparity in girl-child enrollment in basic education in Nigeria due to some internal dynamics. It consequently suggests some policy recommendations necessary to bridge the gender gap in enrollment in basic education in Nigeria. Key word: Gender, policy, formulation, implementation, evaluation and education.

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Since the introduction of Western education to Northern Nigeria, especially in the 1920s, many Muslims in the region found it objectionable as it tempered with their religio-cultural values including for instance, co-education. In light of this therefore, this paper identifies and examines the major challenges affecting girl child education in Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State, Nigeria. Using both primary and secondary sources that are augmented with a qualitative data analysis, the researchers administered a total number of 120 questionnaires across five (5) political wards of Ungogo Local Government Area that were purposively sampled. Out of the 120 questionnaires administered, only 105 were retrieved representing 87.5% response rate. Data collected is analysed using descriptive statistics. Results revealed that religio-cultural reasons, poverty, lack of viable government educational policies and parental preference to educate the male child are the major factors curtaili...

Open Access Publishing Group , Jacob Filgona

In Nigeria and in Mubi North Local Government Area in particular, the girl-child access to basic education was observed to be at its lowest ebb. The reasons for this may revolve around religious and cultural beliefs. This study examined the role of women education in national development; particularly in the aspect of children's health and educational attainment. The sample for the study consisted of 200 women randomly selected from five villages in Mubi North Local Government Area of Adamawa State in Nigeria. A checklist was used to collect data from the respondents. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Guttmann's Split-Half statistic. This yielded a reliability value of 0.80. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentages and Kolmogorov-Smirnov z two samples test. Results of data analysis showed that women education could play a significant role towards improving the health and education of children. The study also identified male-child preference, early marriage, cultural and religious misinterpretation as the major factors militating against female education, particularly in Mubi North Local Government Area of Adamawa. Based on these findings, it was recommended that Government should make women education compulsory and free at the basic education level.

ali ibrahim abbas

This paper explores the efforts of Girl Child Education (GCE) development put in place by Governor Gaidam's regime in Yobe state, Nigeria from 2009 to 2015 as a tool for achieving gendered education development. It aims to provide the description and analysis of democratic regime performance in the development of Girl Child Education (GCE) through the perspectives and experiences of democratic stakeholders in democratic governance process in the state. The qualitative study is therefore based on the narratives of indepth interviews with democratic and education stakeholders and the review of education policy documents. The findings suggest that although there have been efforts to address the challenges of GCE through concerted efforts, the gender distribution of pupils and students at basic education levels reveals a low representation of girls than boys in Yobe state. The failure to achieve gender parity in education development is associated with poor access, lack of female role models, social, political, cultural and economic reasons and Boko Haram insurgency. This paper recommends that these issues can be addressed if more schools are established for girls, inspirations from female educators and roles models, better economic and political empowerment for young women and girls, and ensuring a peaceful and conducive learning atmosphere for the girls and women.

SURAJU, Saheed Badmus, Ph.D.

Eric Chikweru Amadi Dr

This research examines the effect of socio-cultural factors on the Girl-Child education in secondary schools in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State. It is a survey study. The research also took not of some key factors, which among other things, include the great attitude of parents towards girl-child education effect of early marriage. Influence of the family background and size and the socio-economic situation in the community. The findings showed that almost all the above mentioned factors are responsible for limited access of the girl- child education. To limit or reduce the effect of the factors, therefore, the researcher recommends and suggests more awareness campaign, not only for girls but also for parents to take seriously the education of their girl-child. Just as they do for their boy-child. The researcher also suggests ways for improving on girl-child in Ihiala community and all other communities that share similar cultural and socio-economic similarities with I...

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Education at all levels is the process through which individuals are made functional members of their society. It is also a process, through which the individual acquires knowledge, realizes his/her potentialities, and uses them for self actualization and to be useful to others. In every civilized community, children are regarded as the greatest asset society can possess. They are therefore, cherished and protected from all forms of abuse and neglect. For the girl-child however, she may not be so lucky to be that protected due to certain traditional beliefs and practices which put her at high risk of abuse and neglect. Illiteracy and poverty are other factors which further put the girl-child at high risk of exploitation and violation of her right. Yet, she is expected to grow into the good mother of tomorrow even in the face of these disadvantages. Indeed, under such conditions of abuse and neglect, the girl-child education has come to symbolize the reality of all forms of discrimin...

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How do the educational experiences of girls and boys differ?

Data and Research

debate on boy child education in favour essay

Beginning as early as primary school and continuing through secondary school, the journey of education can be vastly different depending on whether a child is a boy or a girl. Measuring these differences and whether they result in advantages or disadvantages for children is critical for education policy planning. Policymakers need to be equipped with gender analysis so that they can address inequities in schooling between girls and boys and target interventions to prevent the most marginalized students from being left behind.

Education pathway analysis tracks the progression of youth of upper secondary school age (typically aged 15 to 17) from the point of entry into primary school through transition to upper secondary school. Building on a previous report analyzing education levels across 103 countries and territories, this blog spotlights the distinct educational trajectories of girls and boys and where they might diverge.

Globally girls and boys are equally likely to enter primary school and transition to lower secondary school, but girls are more likely to transition to upper secondary school.

Who has the advantage when it comes to entering primary school in the first place? Globally, it turns out that there is gender parity on average, meaning that there are roughly the same number of boys and girls who enter primary school. Around the world, 91 per cent of girls ever enter primary school compared to 93 per cent of boys.

As the education journey continues, however, the balance starts to progressively shift in favor of girls. An almost equal share of girls and boys make the transition to lower secondary school – 78 per cent versus 79 per cent, respectively. Girls continue to gain ground as they progress to the next stage of their education, and even surpass boys as they make the transition to upper secondary school. Globally, 54 per cent of girls make this transition as opposed to 52 per cent of boys, with the difference large enough to acknowledge that girls have obtained the advantage.

Education pathway analysis around the world by gender

Source: UNICEF Education Pathway Analysis database (2021)

Though boys start out with a distinct advantage in entering primary school, this balance shifts in favor of girls in upper secondary school.

The global picture belies notable exceptions at the country level, however (Fig 2). Although girls and boys begin primary school on an equal footing in 80 countries, boys begin with a distinct advantage in 23 countries. Notably, in all countries analyzed, either more boys enter primary school than girls or the enrollment of boys is on par with that of girls .

Girls gradually gain the advantage as they continue their schooling, and by the time they transition to lower secondary school, girls have assumed the advantage in 33 countries. But girls do not gain ground everywhere, as boys have the advantage in 30 countries at the point of transition to lower secondary, up from 23 countries for primary school.

Number of countries with gender parity in school enrollment, girl advantage, or boy advantage, by level of education

Nevertheless, girls continue to advance as they make the transition to upper secondary school , such that girls have the advantage in more than half of the countries (55 in total) at this stage of their education . This is especially noteworthy considering that girls did not start out their educational journeys having an advantage in any of the 103 countries and territories. Rather, they were able to “catch up” as they continued their education. Boys also experienced some advancement , as the number of countries where boys had the advantage increase d as well, up from 23 at entry to primary to 32 at the transition to upper secondary school. This suggests that when boys start out having an advantage, they tend to maintain and slowly expand this advantage over time , which could speak to the persistence of discriminatory gender norms against girls in some countries . Overall, however, t he findings point to the strides that girls have made along their educational journeys, when they initially start out on either an equal footing with boys o r disadvantaged to them , and then frequently surpass boys by the time they transition to upper secondary school .

Most regions begin with gender parity in school enrollment and then girls gain the advantage, with the exception of Western and Central Africa where boys maintain the advantage through upper secondary school.

Grouping the countries by region also reveals some interesting differences (Fig. 3). In East Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean, there was predominantly gender parity at the start of children’s educational journey, but girls decidedly gained the advantage by the time they transitioned to upper secondary school. Among countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia, some boys began with an advantage in entry to primary, but by the time of transition to upper secondary school, girls had gained the advantage in the majority of countries. Western and Central Africa is the only region in which boys retained the advantage through the transition to upper secondary school.

Percentage of countries with gender parity, girl or boy advantage, by level of education and region

In emergency countries, disparities in girls’ and boys’ educational trajectories are stark.

In addition to looking at countries by region, it is also possible to group countries according to whether they are designated “emergency” countries or not (Fig. 4). Emergency countries are ones in which there are disruptions to everyday living because of conflict or natural disasters. In these emergency countries, boys started out having an advantage, and retained this advantage throughout the transition to lower and upper secondary school. Of note, however, girls gained the advantage in 38 per cent of emergency countries by the transition to upper secondary, whereas they did not have an advantage in any countries during either primary or lower secondary school. In non-emergency countries, alternatively, children’s educational journeys began in most instances with gender parity, but girls gradually attained the advantage in the majority of countries as they transitioned to upper secondary school, although boys gained the advantage in a number of countries as well.

Percentage of countries with gender parity in school enrollment, girl advantage, or boy advantage, by level of education and emergency status

The findings from the education pathway gender analysis reveal several important points. One is that across most countries (80 out of the 103), girls and boys began their education on par with one another, at least as far as entering primary school is concerned. The other is that although girls did not start out having an advantage in any country, as they transitioned to lower and upper secondary school, girls gradually surpassed boys in over half the countries analyzed. More boys also gained the advantage as they progressed through school in a number of countries, although the observed increase was much smaller. Boys tend to have a particularly strong advantage in emergency countries, especially in primary and lower secondary school.

While the great strides that girls have made in their educational journeys in many countries is something to be acknowledged, driven in part by the investments made over the past 25 years in girls’ education, it remains important to ensure that all children, regardless of gender, have equal opportunities to learn. This is especially true given the challenges that the COVID-10 pandemic has posed to education. Further data collection and analysis are needed to understand the gender-differentiated impacts of the pandemic on girls’ and boys’ educational trajectories so that appropriate policy responses can be implemented.

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Evidence to Policy

Publication & data launches

What about the boys? Addressing educational underachievement of boys and men during and beyond the COVID pandemic

Jaime saavedra, michel welmond, laura gregory.

New World Bank report addresses educational underachievement among boys and men.

High-income countries know this all too well: no matter the grade or subject, boys have been underperforming in school compared to girls, and men have become less represented in higher education. It’s a phenomenon that has been acknowledged in the literature of many high-income countries for decades, and now increasingly observed among middle-income countries. With the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and the deepening of existing inequalities, it is important and timely to better understanding the underachievement of boys and men, in addition to girls and women. Recent evidence highlights the significant effect of school closures on girls including the estimated 10 million additional girls at risk of child marriage over the next decade. Less is known about the effect on boys due to lacking global research on factors related to their underachievement prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new report from the World Bank takes stock of educational underachievement among boys and men and the contributing factors. The report examines three forms of educational underachievement among boys and men:

Low levels of participation in education
Low rates of education completion or graduation
Low student learning outcomes

How extensive is educational underachievement among boys and men?

In every region of the world, and in almost every country, boys are more likely than girls to experience learning poverty , being unable to read and comprehend a simple text by the age of 10. The differences are substantial in some countries, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and among middle-income countries. For example, in lower-middle-income countries, the learning poverty rate for boys is 56 percent, compared to 47 percent for girls.

While girls’ underrepresentation in secondary and tertiary education remains a significant issue in some, particularly low-income, countries, there are more than 100 countries in which fewer boys/men than girls/women are enrolled in and complete secondary and higher education. Of the 152 countries with data, 116 (76%) have lower tertiary education enrollment ratios among men compared to women. Not only are men less likely to participate in tertiary education, but they are also less likely to finish their programs of study. The overall disruption to enrollment and learning from the COVID-19 pandemic is well documented in many countries, and it can be expected that educational challenges will be especially experienced by certain subgroups of students, including boys and men who are underachieving.

Why does it matter?

Educational underachievement of any group has critical implications for individuals and for countries in their efforts to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all (Sustainable Development Goal 4) and to build human capital . If there were no underachievement of boys across the world — that is, if boys had the same learning-adjusted years of schooling as girls — a child's long-term annual productivity would be, on average, 1.3 percent higher. Maintained over the course of a decade, this represents an increase in total production of 13.9 percent. In MENA, this would be as high as 33.9 percent. These differences are particularly important considering that there is a strong relationship among boys and men between educational underachievement and economic and social disadvantage.

As the COVID pandemic subsides, addressing increased inequality will be a priority if education development strategies are to be put back on track. The specific inequality challenge may bear out to be primarily gender related (regarding either boys or girls) in some countries, and thus will require a specific focus.

What explains educational underachievement among boys and men?

The explanations are wide and varied. The report uses three lenses to examine the key factors:

Labor market influence. Incentives to continue education can be different for men and women. Men may have (or have had) the possibility of finding work without education. While returns to education should generally lead boys and men to continue their studies, this is often not the case. Falling behind and early failures in their education may narrow the potential of boys and men to access higher levels of education, pointing to the importance of promptly addressing potential barriers.
Social norms. Prevalent social norms that dismiss the importance of education for boys and men provide some of the answers. Much research on the effect of social norms has focused on the concept of “hegemonic masculinity”, which encompasses a set of social norms (for example, emphasizing sexuality, physical strength, and social dominance) that can be at odds with those that are conducive to academic success. Among the theories on how family affects social norms, much has been written about “fatherless” households, where boys tend to experience more educational underachievement, and girls’ educational performance is affected significantly less.
Characteristics of the education process. Education systems that emphasize the specific needs of each student and that create an inclusive environment free of gender stereotyping benefit both boys and girls. Attention needs to be paid to those specific issues and contexts in educational settings that affect and can mitigate the underachievement of boys and men.

The report finds that poverty accentuates educational underachievement for all, but particularly for boys and men. Socially disadvantaged boys and men are disproportionately affected by educational underachievement. Boys have also been found to be more sensitive to certain factors of school climate or classroom environment, such as disciplinary problems and lacking student assessment and teacher accountability and appraisal.

What has been done about it?

While the issue has gained attention in high-income countries, very few of those have put in place systemwide policies or programs to address it.

Examples of interventions include quotas for entry to university, raising awareness of work opportunities after graduation, and technical education leading directly to the labor market. However, these interventions have had mixed results. Efforts to modify the influence of social norms have included attempts to create a counter-offensive through peer groups, clubs, parenting programs, and teacher training on social norm. Interventions that target the quality of education, particularly the ability of teachers to motivate and find connections to students’ lives, hold high expectations, and focus on individual talents and needs, appear to be crucial for underachieving boys, while also benefiting underachieving girls. These go beyond any idea of a “boy-friendly” pedagogy, instead recognizing that both boys and girls benefit when learning is high-quality, evidence-based, and scientifically grounded.

Where to now?

Educational underachievement among boys and men requires the attention of policymakers, development agencies, academics and analysts, and the public. This includes concerted efforts to improve the educational experience of all learners, with methods that engage and motivate those at the lower end of achievement — predominantly boys — while also being effective for all students.

More research is needed of the issues of male educational underachievement at the global and national levels, including in-depth country studies, thematic studies (such as on disadvantage, higher education, and the effect of labor markets on educational choices), and applied research to determine the effectiveness of interventions to address educational underachievement.

Research on gender has often viewed girls’/women’s and boys’/men’s achievement in isolation from one another, while a deeper understanding could be gained by studying them together. A more holistic view of gender could yield a complete and useful understanding of education underachievement, thereby avoiding an either/or approach to policies and programming. For example, removing gender stereotypes from curricula materials requires a consideration of prevalent stereotypes of both males and females. Likewise, developing strong readers requires investments in levelled reading material that is ample, varied, and pique the interests of both boys and girls. Taking a more holistic approach to gender and educational underachievement will be particularly important as education systems worldwide develop policies and strategies to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Accelerate Equality.

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Five key debates for the future of education

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How do we best educate the students of tomorrow? What we teach our children – and how we teach them – will impact almost every aspect of society, from the quality of healthcare to industrial output; from technological advances to financial services. Our Global Agenda Council experts join the debate to offer various visions of how education may evolve, and how governments, educators, employers and students will need to adapt to keep pace with the bewildering array of possibilities that will shape all of our futures.

The impact of technology

Rapid and dramatic developments in technology, the internet and online learning have outpaced projections from just a few years ago. And while the concept of internet-enabled study is hardly a new phenomenon, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) could be the spark that ignites significant changes in the way the world teaches and learns. That’s the view held by Professor Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX, the online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT.

“We’re seeing a revolution in education as we speak,” says Professor Agarwal, “Technology is casting a spotlight on the innovation of massively open courses, of dynamic new study options that are available to everyone, regardless of background or location.”

Flexible, mass stream and open-source learning, he argues, will revolutionize the landscape of education. “In the future, you could go to university having done the first year of content online. You could then come and have the campus experience for two years, before going on to get a job in the industry where you become a continuous learner for the rest of your life.”

Professor Agarwal believes that this flexibility, combined with instant online feedback, will vastly improve learning outcomes. But this dynamism also extends beyond a mere expansion of study options.

The evolution of MOOCs will not only have a profound effect on how we teach in the future, but who we teach, says Professor Agarwal. MOOCs and their technology could be used to ‘virtualize’ education on a mass scale, delivering low-cost learning opportunities to developing countries that have skipped what he calls the “landline generation” – countries such as India and Kazakhstan, and Africa’s emerging economies where mobile phones are the primary form of communication. It is, he says, much easier to connect thousands of people to the internet and provide them with subsidized tablets, than to build hundreds of bricks-and-mortar campuses.

Professor Agarwal believes that open source MOOCs will adapt organically and democratically to the specific needs of the developing world. The use of the open source model will promote universal access to study materials, setting each MOOC in competition with itself as well as anyone else who wishes to challenge and modify its platforms.

“When something is this powerful and this game-changing, we need to be steering it as a non-profit venture, and even move beyond the concept of non-profit. It should be a platform that everybody can take, and evolve in the way they see fit. Why should any one organization be in charge of it?” he says.

Increasing globalization

Not everyone is convinced that access to MOOCs will prove to be a universal solution to the world’s education challenges. Technology and online learning have exponentially extended the reach of the humble classroom – but this is a trend that Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, President of the National University of Singapore, approaches with some caution.

In Professor Tan’s view, MOOCs distributed by well-established universities, while undoubtedly having a positive impact, fail to take into account the heterogeneous nature of education. And this is particularly true in the context of developing countries.

“There is unlikely to be a panacea in terms of a form of education which would meet different needs worldwide,” says Professor Tan. “Another disadvantage is that you could end up disempowering local education institutions.”

He envisions a more symbiotic approach: “For example, a MOOC provider could work with a number of universities in Africa or in India in order to customize or contextualize the learning materials. They could also work directly with the educators so that face-to-face components could be developed.”

As technology continues to replace routine jobs, education must adapt, says Professor Tan. Modular and online learning will play a significant role in this, but are no substitute for a holistic learning experience.

Outside of developed countries, he feels that branch campuses and partnerships with more established institutions can offer several benefits. “This kind of internationalization in situ provides a new and quite interesting way in which higher education capacity and quality can be built up in the developing world.”

The unification of standards – a question of governance

If education is set to become increasingly globalized, who should govern the models that are used in the future? And should we be looking to build a universal set of standards, one that can be co-opted by universities, industry, MOOCs and other online learning platforms?

Professor Tan warns against establishing such a hegemony. He argues that diversity of educational models, even within a given country, is something that should be encouraged: differentiation helps to equip educators with more resilient ways to adapt to the unpredictability of education in the future.

“I think adaptation is very important,” he says. “I would also say that experimentation actually allows us to learn more and more about what works and what doesn’t. We still don’t know enough about learning psychology and how people best acquire knowledge in a very rapidly-changing environment. I think trying to standardize that might actually have a negative impact on education.”

Dr Shirley Ann Jackson, President of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, envisions a new model – what she calls the “New Polytechnic” – of working and learning that is required in this “data-driven, computationally powered, globally networked era.”

Dr Jackson believes that the future of education will be a collaborative effort, with universities, businesses and governments working more efficiently together to “use and link the capabilities of advanced information technologies, communications and networking”.

“The way we connect and are connected by communication devices, medical devices, security devices and more has resulted in an explosion of data,” explains Dr Jackson. “Data is the new natural resource of the 21st century. The great challenge and opportunity is how to mine, manage, preserve and protect the data to ensure it is being harnessed to its full potential.”

“The aim of the ‘New Polytechnic’ is for educational institutions to work across disciplines, sectors and regions to harness the advanced technologies, the communications networks, and global interconnectivity to address our global challenges with energy security, water, health, environmental and national security, and the linked challenges of climate change and sustainability – animating and supporting strong economic systems and financial markets,” she says.

At Rensselaer, changes are already underway to realise Dr Jackson’s vision, which, she says, will equip the next generation with more intellectual agility. So while the internet itself will benefit from more structuring, students, she argues, must be taught to be adaptable. They must develop what she calls “multicultural sophistication” and they must have a global view.

Dr Jackson believes it is vital to harness this approach to build a strong innovation ecosystem.

The internet, Dr Jackson notes, is the new library. As with online platforms such as MOOCs, connectivity is required for students to reach their full potential.

“If 60% of the world is still not online then there is a question about addressing the great challenges of our time,” she says. “In emerging economies, which is where a lot of these challenges play out, if one wants to try to think about a data-driven approach, then one has to think about what barriers exist. Is there broadband access? Is there even electricity?”

In this manner, even the most advanced of educational ideas may be anchored to more prosaic facilities and needs.

A different approach: Will commoditization benefit education?

Of course, education should be seen as a need in itself. Technology has undoubtedly made the world a smaller place and, in the 21st century education is rightly considered a basic human right. Unfortunately, this classification doesn’t negate the need for financial backing; somewhere along the chain, educators, researchers and platforms must be funded.

Dr Jackson is somewhat cautious, however, about initiatives that bow to the needs of industry for specific skills training, without providing a broader education. She believes that education cannot purely be demand-driven, as these demands are subject to constant change; locking people into a specific skills framework will leave them poorly prepared to adapt to these changes.

Dr Mona Mourshed, Senior Partner with McKinsey & Company, believes a more radical approach to education must be adopted if the world is to keep pace with future demand for skilled workers. We are, she posits, migrating towards the curation of education – an environment of accelerated learning, based upon a modularized approach. She echoes Professor Agarwal’s theory that the students of the future will spend less time on traditional campuses.

“I think universities will no longer be four-year experiences,” she says. “Furthermore, I believe that vocational options will no longer necessarily be a two-year experience. We will be talking about eight to twelve weeks of experiences to attain particular skills. Then in the workplace, as you get ready to take your next step, you get the next module. This process can be regarded as a partnership between the employer and the education provider.”

Dr Mourshed believes that competency-based assessments to acquire what she terms “just-in-time skills”, acquired via informal learning, will allow people to access education wherever and whenever they like. This modularization will disrupt traditional attitudes towards current educational models.

Furthermore, Dr Mourshed’s vision of a modular, skills-based education suggests that industry – rather than traditional institutions – will play a greater role in driving standards, and thus funding education in the future. This will not stem from a desire, on the part of employers, to shape education policy; rather, it’s about responding to the need for individuals to have more diverse skills.

“Employers are changing the reality of education on the ground,” says Dr Mourshed. “They are giving jobs on the back of that, so I think it’s more the case that policy will follow these experiments.”

So, will universities disappear? “No, of course they won’t. But we will increasingly see a share of the student population opting for a very different education experience.”

Education, she says, must not stagnate if we are to get young people to a higher level of productivity at a faster rate than has traditionally been the case.

The changing, but recognizable, face of future education

Education is constantly adapting to societal needs, and this transformation will undoubtedly gather momentum in the years to come. Technology, MOOCs and industry will all play a unique role in this evolution, and while traditional institutions may face challenges in the future, it’s likely they will still form the bedrock of learning and influence how the world teaches and learns.

The answer, in Dr Jackson’s eyes, lies in finding a sense of balance. While the future she envisions for education will certainly be more technologically driven, it must still be so organic, interactive, and experiential as to allow students to mature and be creative, too.

“Technology is not going to replace students in a lab or classroom doing actual physics or biological science experiments, and studying living things,” she says. “It is not going to replace the socialization and the maturation that they go through as part of their studies.

“We do not want to take an existing narrow, restricted education model and simply replace it with another one. That’s something we should always remember.”

The Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015 Report is now live.

This is an extract from the World Economic Forum’s Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015 report , drawing on interviews with GAC members Anant Agarwal, Tan Chorh Chuan, Shirley Ann Jackson and Mona Mourshed.

Authors: Professor Anant Agarwal is CEO of edX, the online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT. Dr Tan Chorh Chuan is Professor of Medicine and President of the National University of Singapore. Dr Shirley Ann Jackson is the President of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Dr Mona Mourshed is Senior Partner with McKinsey & Company.

Image: Students take notes from their iPads at the Steve Jobs school in Sneek August 21, 2013. REUTERS/Michael Kooren

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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Regions & Countries

2. teachers’ views of current debates about what schools should be teaching.

We asked teachers what type of impact current debates about how public schools should be teaching about topics like race and gender identity have had on their ability to do their job.

A pie chart showing that about 4 in 10 teachers say current debates about K-12 education have had a negative impact on their job.

A sizeable share of public K-12 teachers (41%) say these debates have had a negative impact on their ability to do their job.

Just 4% say these debates have a positive impact, while 53% say the impact has been neither positive nor negative or that these debates have had no impact.

Similar shares of Democratic (44%) and Republican (40%) teachers say these debates have had a negative impact. But Republican teachers are more likely than Democratic teachers to say the impact has been neither positive nor negative or that there’s been no impact (58% vs. 51%).

Secondary school teachers are more likely than elementary school teachers to say the impact has been negative (45% vs. 36%). Among secondary school teachers, those teaching English or social studies are especially likely to say this compared with those teaching other subjects (55% vs. 38%).

Influence over curriculum

We asked teachers about the amount of influence different groups have over what K-12 public schools in their areas are teaching.

A diverging bar chart showing that a majority of teachers say teachers don’t have enough influence on what schools in their area are teaching.

Most teachers (71%) say teachers themselves don’t have enough influence.

Teachers are also more likely to say students and principals don’t have enough influence than to say these groups have too much influence. Still, 61% say principals have about the right amount of influence, and about half say the same about students.

In turn, a majority of teachers (58%) say their state government has too much influence over what K-12 public schools in their area are teaching.

More also say the following groups have too much influence than say they don’t have enough influence:

The federal government (45% say too much, while 10% say not enough)
The local school board (38% vs. 9%)
Parents (32% vs. 19%)

When we asked parents of K-12 children a similar question in fall 2022, a far smaller share (30%) said teachers don’t have enough influence. Another 12% said they have too much and 42% said it’s about right. In the parents survey, we also offered a “not sure” option, which 15% of parents selected.

Partisan differences

A diverging bar chart showing that Republican and Democratic teachers have different views on the amount of influence certain groups have on what schools are teaching.

As is the case among parents, teachers’ views on how much influence certain groups have on what schools are teaching vary by party.

Democratic teachers are more likely than Republican teachers to say each of the following has too much influence:

Their local school board (41% vs. 35%)
Parents (37% vs. 26%)

For their part, Republican teachers are more likely than Democratic teachers to say the federal government has too much influence (57% vs. 39%).

A larger share of Democratic teachers (47%) than Republican teachers (35%) say students don’t have enough influence on what schools are teaching.

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Table of contents, ‘back to school’ means anytime from late july to after labor day, depending on where in the u.s. you live, among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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Male Child is More Important than a Female Child Debate

Henry Divine 2 Comments

Table of Contents

Meaning of Debate

Debate is like a friendly argument where people share their opinions about something. They take turns talking, trying to convince others that their point of view is the best. It’s a way to discuss and understand different sides of an issue.

So the goal of a debate is not necessarily to produce a winning side. Rather, it is to extensively discuss an issue from different perspectives with the aim of understanding it holistically.

In the next few sections, I will show you some of the points people raise when they argue that a male child is more important than a female child in a family. I will also give you some opposing points with which others argue against the motion. Thereafter, I will give you sample debates on the topic as a guide to crafting your own if you need to.

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Male Child is more Important than a Female Child Debate

Let’s look at the points with which you can either argue for the motion or against it.

Points Arguing for the Motion which states that a male child is more important than a female child

The male children carry the family name from generation to generation, so that the family name and heritage does not die.
Male children are usually the bread winners and overall providers in the family both nuclear and extended.
The male child takes over from his father when he is no more.
Male children are stronger than their female counterparts physiologically. So the family depends on them to take care of strenuous house chores.
Male children are cheaper and easier to raise when it comes to hygiene and clothing.
Traditionally, there are roles that are only reserved for males in the society.
Some cultures just have inexplicable preference for male children. The reason is not far from wanting a male heir to sustain the family name and secure the family’s inheritance and future.

Boy is Better than Girl Quotes

“A boy comes to me with a spark of interest, I feed the spark and it becomes a flame. I feed the flame and it becomes a fire. I feed the fire and it becomes a roaring blaze.” ~ Cus D’Amato. “Boys are sent out into the world to buffet with its temptations, to mingle with bad and good, to govern and direct – girls are to dwell in quiet homes among few friends, to exercise a noiseless influence.” ~ Elizabeth Missing Sewell “BOYS are like alcohol, you throw them up when you’ve had too much. GIRLS are like coffee, you throw them away when they are not HOT ANYMORE.” ~ Unknown “Boys insult each other, but they really don’t mean it. Girls compliment each other but they don’t mean it either.” ~ Unknown

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Points Arguing Against the Motion which states that a male child is more important than a female child

In the face of current harsh economic realities, female children contribute to the family’s economic stability through different income-generating activities.
Female children are more useful at home in terms of helping around with chores.
Most female children turn out to be more responsible, more reliable and even more sensible.
In terms of education, female children are more important than their male counterparts because if you educate a male child you educate just one person but when you educate a female child you educate the nation. The reason is because they will impact that knowledge to their children, neighbors and so on.
A son is a son until he gets a wife. But a daughter is a daughter all of her life.
Female children provide social security to their parents in their old age by taking care of them.
Female children form alliances and strengthen social bonds between families through marriage.

Girl is Better than Boy Quotes

“I don’t think women are better than men, I think men are a lot worse than women.” —Louis C. K. “Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.” —Socrates “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men; they are far superior and always have been.” —William Golding “You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy.” —Erica Jong

A Sample Debate Supporting the Motion that Male Child is More Important than a Female Child Debate

Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Panel of Judges, accurate time-keeper, co-debaters, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am Prince Mojeed representing SSS II. I am here to support the motion that states, “A male child is more important than a female child.” Here are my strong reasons.

Firstly, male children play a crucial role in carrying forward the family name and heritage from generation to generation. It is through them that the lineage remains intact, ensuring that the family’s legacy endures through time.

Secondly, in many societies, male children are traditionally seen as the primary breadwinners and providers for both nuclear and extended families. Their role as providers is essential for the economic stability and well-being of the family unit.

Furthermore, the male child often assumes the responsibility of taking over from his father when he is no longer able to fulfill his duties. This continuity ensures the smooth transition of leadership and the preservation of family traditions and values.

Physiologically, male children are generally stronger than their female counterparts, making them better suited for strenuous household chores and physical labor. Their strength and endurance are relied upon for tasks that require physical exertion which is often needed for the smooth functioning of the family unit.

Lastly, when considering the economic aspect, it is often believed that male children are cheaper and easier to raise compared to female children. Parents don’t need to spend money buying pads, wigs, bras, weavons, nails, and so on.

In conclusion, the importance of male children cannot be understated, as they play multifaceted roles in upholding family heritage, providing economic stability, assuming leadership positions, contributing to physical labor, and easing the financial burden on the family. For these reasons, we firmly support the motion that a male child is more important than a female child. Thank you.

A Sample Debate Opposing the Motion that Female Children are more Beneficial to their Parents than Male Children

Good morning, Mr. Chairman, esteemed Panel of Judges, time-keeper, fellow debaters, Ladies, and Gentlemen. I am Prince Mojeed representing SSS I, and I strongly oppose the motion that “female children are more beneficial to their parents than male children.”

It is widely recognized that male children offer more benefits to their parents compared to female children. Here’s why:

Firstly, male children are generally stronger than females, leading them to undertake more strenuous tasks and work harder. While some argue that females excel in the kitchen, it’s important to note that male children can also contribute effectively, depending on how they are trained. However, tasks like splitting firewood with an axe are typically reserved for male children due to their physical strength.

Secondly, maintaining female children in the family tends to be more costly. Male children are usually content with fewer clothing items, while females often request numerous additional items, leading to higher expenses for their upkeep.

Thirdly, female children typically change their surname upon marriage, relinquishing their maiden name. In contrast, male children retain and uphold their family name throughout their lives, ensuring its continuity.

In many cultures, male children are regarded as the backbone of the family, inheriting their father’s responsibilities and upholding the family’s reputation. Conversely, female children marry into another family, shifting their focus to their husband’s household.

Lastly, the notion that female children care for their parents in old age is not entirely accurate. Male children often take charge of their father’s household, maintaining close ties with their parents and addressing their needs firsthand.

In conclusion, I believe that the arguments presented demonstrate the greater benefits male children offer to their parents compared to female children. Thank you.

Read Also: Career Guide: 5 ways to choose a bad (wrong) Career

Final Thoughts

Don’t forget that debate is like a friendly battle of ideas that helps both the participants and audience to understand different viewpoints, learn new things and improve their communication skills. So, whether you are proposing or opposing, agreeing or disagreeing, debating is a great way to grow and connect with others.

If you got value from this post, you can help us to spread it. Share with friends on Social Media . Just scroll down to see the Facebook and Twitter and WhatsApp buttons. Thank you so much!

About Henry Divine

Some few decades ago, making the choice between public school and private school was very …

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I much appreciate as you give us new knowledge based on a debate

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A DISCURSIVE SPECTRUM: The Narrative of Kenya’s ‘Neglected’ Boy Child

Associated data.

In this article, I examine a narrative that on the surface could be backlash to gender equality efforts: that after years of policy attention to girls, Kenya’s “boy child” has been neglected. Through a content analysis of Kenyan online newspaper texts spanning the past two decades, I chart the evolution of this discourse, finding that it was present as early as 2000, intensified around 2010, and began to produce concrete actions around 2013. I argue that the narrative is a reaction to expanded women’s rights, but not always in the sense of negative backlash. Some boy child claims-makers were indeed concerned with a decline in men’s power. However, others, mostly women, used the boy child narrative to redirect attention to issues that profoundly affect the well-being of women such as violence and the struggle to find a partner. These results point to the value of a discursive spectrum approach for analysis of potential backlash to gender equality as well as discussions around policy attention to boys and men.

In recent years, scholars have increasingly begun to study the question of backlash against gender equality, exploring the national contexts as well as transnational dynamics that foster such reaction ( Corredor 2019 ; Korolczuk and Graff 2018 ; Paternotte and Kuhar 2017 ; Lodhia 2014 ). From Eastern Europe to Latin America, the global Right—largely comprised of religious and political figures and organizations—has been found to employ a “rhetorical counterstrategy” that seeks to discredit feminist ideas and policy proposals ( Corredor 2019 , 616). It is no coincidence that a backlash discourse has emerged as gender equality has advanced globally: a prerequisite for the formation of a countermovement is some level of success from the movement it is opposing ( Corredor 2019 ; Verloo 2018 ).

Alongside this reaction to gender equality, tensions exist within the gender and development arena about how men should be involved, both as policy-makers and beneficiaries. A growing interest around incorporating men into gender programs accompanied the shift from the women in development approach to the gender and development approach in the 1990s ( Chant and Gutmann 2000 ; Cornwall 2000 ). Although this stronger emphasis on gender relations theoretically opened up space for the greater involvement of men, the focus of gender programming has remained largely on girls’ and women’s empowerment, in part due to the rationale that this approach is “smart economics” ( Chant 2016 , 4). A parallel but distinct discourse runs in the Global North, as well as other regions such as the Caribbean, around how persistent gender inequality relates to negative outcomes for boys and men in various realms, including education, incarceration, and health ( Noguera 2003 ; Cobbett and Younger 2012 ).

In this article, I explore one gender narrative that brings together these dynamics of backlash and concern for men: that after years of focus on the girl child, the “boy child” in Kenya has been forgotten. Specifically, I ask: what explains the emergence of this narrative of neglect in Kenya, and how does it relate to women’s changing social position? Applying content analysis to two decades of online newspaper texts, I examine the problems associated with the “neglected” boy child as well as the orientations of a wide range of claims-makers to gender equality. The findings present a complex picture. Groups, all arguing that the boy child has been forgotten, hold diverse views on gender equality, ranging from those who think gender equality efforts have been excessive to those who think there is much progress to be made.

These results point to the value of a broad study of both potential backlash to gender equality and policy attention to boys and men. This framework, which I call a discursive spectrum approach, starts with narratives in the public sphere to go beyond two opposing sides, pro- and anti-equality efforts, and reveals the concerns, goals, and social positioning of a range of discursive actors. The term spectrum is not meant to imply that all contested gender discourses will involve actors ranging in their views on gender equality. Instead, it indicates a stance that such a spectrum might exist and, with discourse as an entry point, allows variation in views to emerge.

CRISIS TENDENCIES AND POTENTIAL BACKLASH IN THE GENDER ORDER

Gender dynamics at every level of society, from the individual to the institutional, are never set in stone ( Risman 2017 ). There are moments, however, when the gender order is particularly vulnerable to change. Connell (1987) referred to these moments as “crisis tendencies,” arguing that they stem from contradictions in various areas of gender relations: for example, men’s continued dominance in homes existing alongside the idea that men and women are equal as citizens. This theory—that changes in different arenas interact to shape the trajectories of the gender order as a whole—parallels Walby’s concept of a critical turning point, “an event that changes the trajectory of development onto a new path” (2009, 421). To Connell and Walby, these salient periods—crisis tendencies or critical turning points—represent a fork in the road, posing risk and opportunity for gender equality.

Indeed, history has shown that the path to a more gender equal society frequently meets with resistance. In recent years, explicitly “antigender” groups across the world have intensified their efforts to obstruct and dismantle policies aimed at gender and sexual equality ( Corredor 2019 ). But, what if opposition takes the form of a discourse that is not tethered to a particular group? And furthermore, what if a discourse—such as the boy child debate —could be backlash to gender equality but, as yet, it is premature to classify it as such? In this case, a more expansive approach, one that moves beyond the dichotomy of movement and opposition, is particularly valuable. Frameworks put forward by feminist scholars to examine debates around social problems, largely in relation to the welfare state and policy, provide a useful foundation to help develop a discursive spectrum approach. I draw especially on Nancy Fraser’s concept of needs-talk , the “disputes about what exactly various groups of people really do need and about who should have the last word in such matters” (1990, 199). Rather than study the needs themselves, Fraser called for study of how people interpret needs. Her model highlights three key moments of struggle: establishing the need as a political concern, interpreting the need, and satisfying or denying the need. At each of these points, different groups, who have varying degrees of power and resources, jostle to establish their view on a particular social need as hegemonic. A more recent wave of feminist scholars have designed new frameworks to study discourse around social problems ( Bacchi 2012 ; Lombardo, Meier, and Verloo 2009 ). Using the narrative of Kenya’s neglected boy child, I build on these theories to develop a discursive spectrum approach, where language serves as an entry point to reveal the range and complexity of attitudes to gender equality.

MEN’S DISEMPOWERMENT AND PRIVILEGE IN KENYA

British colonial rule fundamentally disrupted and shaped gender relations in Kenya. With the arrival of wage work and formal education, underpinned by the colonial administration’s beliefs about men and women’s social positions, a man as breadwinner ideal began to emerge ( Chege and Sifuna 2006 ; Ocobock 2017 ). Since the 1980s, research has shown men in Kenya failing to live up to expectations of providing financially ( Izugbara 2015 ; Mojola 2014 ; Amuyunzu-Nyamongo and Francis 2006 ; Silberschmidt 2001 ). This economic strife is largely due to declines in agricultural industries such as sugar and pyrethrum, the falling price of cash crops such as coffee, the rising cost of agricultural inputs, declining farmland in rural areas ( Amuyunzu-Nyamongo and Francis 2006 ; Silberschmidt 2001 ), and the limited, precarious, and low-paid nature of much work in urban areas ( Izugbara 2015 ).

Some scholars have argued that this schism between men’s breadwinning responsibilities and the economic reality on the ground has led to the “disempowerment” of poorer men who fall short of expectations ( Silberschmidt 2001 ; Amuyunzu-Nyamongo and Francis 2006 ). In this explanation, women strengthened their identities as they increasingly worked outside the home, leaving men “with a patriarchal ideology bereft of its legitimizing activities” ( Silberschmidt 2001 , 657). The resulting lack of self-esteem led some men to seek a combination of power and solace in alcohol, domestic violence, and extra-marital partners, with women consequently bearing much of the brunt of men’s disappointments ( Amuyunzu-Nyamongo and Francis 2006 ; Silberschmidt 2001 ).

Beyond Kenya, these tensions around socio-economic change, masculinity, and gender relations have been documented in diverse settings across sub-Saharan Africa, including in Madagascar ( Cole 2005 ), Nigeria ( Smith 2017 ) and Uganda ( Stites 2013 ). The economic travails and perceived loss of status amongst poorer men stands in contrast to the fact that men continue to disproportionately occupy positions of political and economic power in much of sub-Saharan Africa ( Bouka et al. 2017 ; World Bank 2007 ). These contrasts are stark in Kenya, where income inequality is high ( World Bank 2009 ). Though this research on masculinity and socio-economic change largely focuses on men from the lower end of the economic spectrum, the understanding that “providing” is fundamental to masculinity also extends to higher income groups and, indeed, the ability to fulfill these ideals signifies class status ( Smith 2017 ; Spronk 2012 ).

GENDER EQUALITY: MOBILIZATION AND RESPONSES

In the past few decades, Kenyan women have mobilized in diverse ways for gender equality. After the shift to a multi-party system in the 1990s, women’s organizations in Kenya were able to intensify their efforts to advance women’s political position, focusing particularly on integrating key provisions into the constitution that was eventually passed in 2010 ( Tripp, Lott, and Khabure 2014 ). The new constitution marked a turning point for gender equality in Kenya, dramatically increasing the numbers of women in politics. However, one of its major victories—a provision that no more than two-thirds of any publicly elected body may be the same gender—has yet to be fully enforced and women politicians continue to face violence and intimidation ( Bouka et al. 2017 ; Kamuru 2019 ). Women also have formed profession-based activist organizations such as the Federation of Women Lawyers, which has provided legal assistance to women on issues such as child custody and landownership as well as advocated for legal reforms, including around the two-thirds gender rule. More recently, social media has offered a new platform for feminists and women’s rights activists to protest and voice their opinions, including drawing attention to brutal cases of violence against women ( Nyabola 2018 ).

Scholars have begun to assess how men are responding to global and local efforts around gender equality. A study from a low-income community in Kampala, Uganda found that many men were relatively supportive of women’s rights in the public sphere, but more uncomfortable with these ideas in the home ( Wyrod 2008 ). A smaller proportion of men were outright “hostile” to gender equality, remaining adamant about male superiority and resistant to change ( Wyrod 2008 , 809). Similarly mixed attitudes towards gender equality have been documented in South Africa ( Dworkin et al. 2012 ) and Nigeria ( Smith 2017 ). A discursive spectrum approach offers an additional way to examine attitudes to gender equality: by examining actors brought together through their engagement with a discourse, rather than shared demographics or area of residence.

Economic and social shifts in the gender order provide necessary context for the emergence of the boy child narrative. But given that this narrative is ostensibly about children, what gendered patterns in outcomes exist amongst boys and girls? Arguably, the largest shift in recent years has been in education, with girls making considerable advances. Gender parity has been achieved in primary school enrollment across the more densely-populated central and western parts of Kenya. Disparities, however, still persist at the primary school level in other parts of the country, such as the North, North-East, and some of the coastal counties, where poverty levels are higher than the rest of the country ( KNBS 2018 ; Ministry of Education, Science and Technology 2014 ). In contrast, the relatively wealthier central counties have reached gender parity even in secondary school enrollment ( Ministry of Education, Science and Technology 2014 ).

The limited existing research from Kenya that mentions the boy child explicitly, rather than boys generally, tends to take the claim that “the boy child has been neglected” at face value ( Chang’ach 2012 ; Muthaa et al. 2013 ; Karioki and Thinguri 2015 ). For example, one paper on school drop-out amongst boys in western Kenya is titled “An Unfinished Agenda: Why is the Boy Child Endangered?” ( Chang’ach 2012 ). One exception is a study by Kenya’s National Gender and Equality Commission that gauged public perception on whether the boy child had been excluded from gender equality efforts ( NGEC 2015 ). I contribute to this nascent area of research by making the discourse around the boy child the object of study itself.

I draw on newspaper text from the Daily Nation , The Standard , and The Star , the three English-language newspapers in Kenya with the largest circulations, sold in print as well as published online ( Nyabuga and Booker 2013 ). These three newspapers represent arenas of public and national debate, covering views and events from across the country. In addition, the relatively long timeframe (1999–2017) of the data provides an opportunity to examine how a social problem—in this case, the boy child—emerges and what keeps it in the public eye.

To contextualize these newspaper texts, it is important to note that with an estimated three million people reading newspapers daily out of a population of more than 45 million, Kenya’s newspaper readership is substantial ( Nyabuga and Booker 2013 ) but also selective. For one, newspaper readership is higher in urban areas and amongst men. In 2014, 41 percent of men said that they read the paper at least once a week compared to 18 percent of women. Newspaper readership also shows relatively steep wealth and education gradients ( KNBS et al. 2015 ).

To find relevant texts, I entered boy child in the newspapers’ online search engines. I discounted certain boy child references, including those relating to fertility preferences (e.g., how to conceive a boy child), one specific boy (e.g., a boy child has gone missing), and religion (i.e., boy child Jesus Christ). The first mentions of the boy child date from 1999, 2009, and 2012 in the Daily Nation , The Standard , and The Star , respectively. This range of dates is due to differences in when each paper started publishing online as well as the functioning of their search engines. After the exclusions, 224 texts remained that comprised six types: news articles (n=87), opinion pieces (n=53), feature articles (n=35), letters to the editor (n=27, only in the Daily Nation and The Standard ), profiles (n=18), and editorials (n=4). I include this range of article types because they reveal different aspects of the boy child narrative. News articles show how the boy child comes up in public speeches, for example, while opinion pieces reveal the views of social commentators, including women who may be less represented in the news events. I then downloaded the texts in PDF format. The process of selecting and preparing the texts took place in March and April 2017.

Using NVivo, I then proceeded to conduct a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the articles. The quantitative component attended to changes over time in the discourse—in the types of claims-makers, for example—as well as the relative frequency of particular themes and frames. The qualitative analysis focused on elucidating these patterns, and analyzing the meaning behind certain frames and the relationships between them ( Altheide and Schneider 2017 ). My first step of analysis was to create a classification sheet recording the name and gender of author, publication year, text type, and publishing newspaper for each text. Then, guided by Franzosi’s methodology of analyzing narrative through assessing its “story grammar,” I coded all of the newspaper texts based on the key components of a claim ( Franzosi 2010 ). The number of claims in each text was based on the number of individuals voicing opinions about the boy child (claims-makers) in a particular text. Claims-makers ranged in terms of their public visibility, from the nationally recognized, including politicians and media personalities, to the locally known, including school principals and district education officers, to private individuals writing letters to the editor. In the results, I refer to claims-makers’ social positions at the time of making the claim, rather than their social position today. In total, the 224 texts comprised 252 claims.

To code these claims, I applied main codes for who was making the claim with derivative codes including name, gender, and occupation sector; how the claim was being made with derivative codes for geographic location as well as type of event; at whom the claim was being addressed; and why the claim-maker thought the boy child was a problem, with derivative codes for what other social problems the claims-maker associated with the boy child such as violence, men’s mental health, and substance abuse. Alongside these claim codes, I coded for how the boy child was framed as a problem, including the adjectives associated with the boy child such as “neglected” or “forgotten,” who was blamed for the current predicament of the boy child, and whether attention to the girl child was described as harming the boy child. Finally, I coded for the types of solutions claims-makers put forward to address the problem of the boy child.

THE NARRATIVE OF THE BOY CHILD

Neglected and forgotten.

The term “boy child” was generally used to present boys as in need of attention. Slightly less than half of all the claims described the boy child as badly off in some way, most commonly as “neglected,” or with other terms indicating a lack of attention such as “forgotten,” “ignored,” and “left behind.” In contrast, the use of more active terms—that the boy child had been “discriminated” against or “mistreated,” for example—amounted to only a handful (n=8) of claims. Though blame was infrequently (5 percent) directed at women’s rights groups or the girl child campaign explicitly, framing the neglect of the boy child as a consequence of over-focusing on the girl child was relatively common with around a fifth of the total number of claims making this connection. An editorial illustrated this frame of neglect and over-focus on the girl child:

But as good as recognising the girl child has been, it has come with its own downside. Too much attention has been paid to the girl child that the boy child has been completely ignored. The roles have been reversed and boys are experiencing neglect ( Standard , October 12, 2016).

Claims-makers argued that this disregard for the boy child was causing harm, noting that boys were “suffering,” “in trouble,” “under threat,” and “endangered” as a result (10 percent). In an opinion piece, contributing writer Francis Waweru reflected on the public response to the police’s killing of eight young men in the Mukuru kwa Reuben slum in Nairobi, writing, “If the eight were girls, there would have been a countrywide outcry.” He criticized the Kenyan Human Rights Commission for remaining silent on the issue, concluding, “Are boys not humans? Surely, why has the life of the boy-child become so cheap? Indeed, boys are an endangered species” ( Standard , May 18, 2016). In these narratives of neglect, the grievance tended to be two-fold: first, that boys or men were in trouble in some way, and second, that society was not paying adequate attention.

This frame of neglect also was echoed in the letters to the editor, largely by men. Of the 27 letters to the editor, only six were from women. In some cases, the tone grew bitter, connecting the plight of the boy child to the state of men. For example, reader Simon Kimani wrote, “We have forsaken the boy child and soon it might cause grievous harm to the society … Women should stop taking men as sperm donors and value them as their husbands” ( Nation , June 23, 2013). Though women did evoke the neglect frame (in four of their six letters), their focus was more on boys themselves, from saying that rape of boys should be recognized as a problem to referring to the boy child as a “mere flickering light” ( Nation , March 10, 2015). This more contained concern about the boy child may in part explain why the tone of anger that appeared in some men’s letters was markedly absent from the women’s letters.

Not all claims-makers described the boy child as worse off. Around one-tenth of the claims framed the boy child as “advantaged” or “privileged” compared to the girl child, often in descriptions of regions seen as poorer and more traditional. An article about a girls’ secondary school in Tana River County reflects this sentiment: “In a region where culture and poverty reign supreme, the girls have to struggle to elude the dragons of early marriages, female genital mutilation and general perception that education is just for the boy-child” ( Nation , June 29, 2011). Some claims-makers explicitly refuted the boy child narrative. In response to the question “Do you think the girl child is over-empowered as the boy child is being forgotten?” Dinah Musindarwezo, Executive Director of The African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), answered, “That notion has been widely debated, but it is not true.” She pointed to the challenges that girls continued to face in some parts of Kenya such as early marriage and female genital mutilation ( Star , July 27, 2016).

An Evolving Discourse

The narrative of the neglected boy child was present as early as the turn of the century. In 2000, a news article reported on a spate of attacks by boys on girls’ secondary schools across the country, in which “the boys raid, rape and injure the girls” ( Nation , November 27, 2000). According to the article, a woman school principal responded that, “[E]mphasis on girl-child education in the last decade, ignoring the boy-child, could be the cause of the invasion.” Claims similar in tone continued throughout the 2000s but, as illustrated in Table 1 , remained relatively sparse with around one tenth of the total claims coming from the 1999–2009 period. A marked uptick appears in the early 2010s. Boy child claims in the Daily Nation , the texts of which span the greatest period of the three newspapers, more than tripled from 18 during 2005–2009 to 58 from 2010–2014.

Types of claim over time (n=252)

As the discourse grew, its contours changed. In particular, there was a trend away from individual views and towards events. Texts that highlighted individual views (i.e., opinion columns, editorials, and letters to the editor) dropped from 40 percent in 2010–2014 to 30 percent in 2015–2017, with a parallel increase in claims coming from the remaining three types of articles (i.e., news, features, and profiles) centered predominantly around events. One specific event that illustrates this trend is the emergence of the boy child narrative at school drama and music competitions. The first mention of the boy child in this arena is in 2013, when “neglect of the boy child” is described as an “unusual theme” at the annual Kenya Schools and Colleges Drama Festival ( Nation , March 9, 2013). Later, in 2015 and 2016, three competitions featured a boy child performance, including a student-produced documentary on “rights of the boy child” ( Nation , April 16, 2016).

Similarly indicating increased boy child action, the proportion of claims from the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector rose from eight percent in 2010–2014 to 15 percent in 2015–2017. In the earlier years, these claims were purely discursive, but around 2013 some actors began to take action on behalf of the boy child. Examples include the Ripples International Foundation in Meru County partnering with a charity marathon race to raise money for a variety of causes, including “boy child abuse” ( Star , June 22, 2013); in 2015, teacher Elliot Karanja setting up a campaign called “Save the Boy, Save the Nation” ( Nation , March 26, 2015); and the Austrian Ambassador to Kenya providing both sanitary pads to girls and “hygiene kits” to boys—including “inner wears, soaps, combs, toothpaste”—through an NGO called Rural Teenagers Support Programme ( Star , June 2, 2015). These boy child actions were mainly spearheaded by individuals or organizations working at the local level, rather than national and international NGOs. Together, these trends in the types of articles and claims-makers show how boy child discourse percolated to the realm of action.

Boys in the Future

Some claims-makers stressed the urgency of the situation by explicitly referencing the future (7 percent), describing the current predicament of the boy child as a “time bomb” and “dangerous trend.” However, more common than explicitly referencing the future was to do so implicitly, by associating the neglect of the boy child either with the state of men or with social problems involving men. A whole host of issues were attributed to the neglect of the boy child, from jigger (a parasitic flea) infestations to men’s shorter lifespans, but four areas stood out in particular: education, substance abuse, violence, and partnering.

Concerns about education, particularly around exam performance and school enrollment, were the largest generator of boy child discourse, with around a quarter of boy child claims referencing education in some way. In 2010, for example, the Minister of Education Sam Ongeri stated that in some parts of the country, more girls than boys had taken the primary school leaving exam: “In these provinces [Central, Eastern, and Nairobi], we may need to start worrying about the boy child. I wish to call on the leaders and parents to assist my ministry in changing the attitude towards the boy child education before it becomes a challenge” ( Nation , December 28, 2010). Boys also were described as dropping out of school, mainly to earn money. These reports reflected regional patterns in livelihoods with, for example, boys leaving school to pick the stimulant leaf miraa (or khat ), a particular concern in Meru and Embu.

Men predominated in the conversation about education and the boy child with about two thirds of the claims coming from men, and were also more likely to associate these trends with an overall decline in men’s position in society. For example, County Assembly Deputy Speaker Gideon Kimathi urged those in the education sector to come to the rescue of the boy child, saying, “The boy child lags behind in education and he might have no leadership role to play.” He then went on to connect the problem to men, urging “men to ‘wake up from their self-imposed slumber’ and reclaim their rightful place in society” ( Star , July 22, 2015). Women, on the other hand, tended to keep the focus on the boys themselves. For example, in response to boys dropping out of school, a district education officer in Embu County, Margerate Mwangi, said, “Initially, female circumcision worked against girls but sensitisation has helped to curb the practice. Now, the problem has shifted to boys, whose schooling is endangered” ( Standard , November 28, 2012). In sum, education was an explosive policy arena in which metrics such as exam scores and enrollment numbers provided claims-makers with material to reflect on the well-being of boys and girls and, in many cases, broader gender relations in society.

Both men and women raised the use of alcohol and/or drugs (in 14 percent of claims) as an outcome of neglecting the boy child. Men were described generally as turning to substances because they lacked self-esteem or direction, having not received adequate guidance as boys and now facing current economic difficulties. Again, some men connected substance abuse to a decline in men’s power. A news article described how older men from the Kikuyu ethnic group were starting a “major boy child initiative,” including a community showcase of traditional Kikuyu customs, “which should be upheld for [the boy child] to become a man, head of the family and leader in the community.” Two of the elders said that parents were treating the boy child as “the weaker sex,” which had “led to boys finding consolation in crime, drug taking and alcoholism, which is a shame to the community” ( Star , June 4, 2015). This mobilization of Kikuyu elders also reflects another theme of the texts, namely the higher proportion of boy child claims explicitly referencing central Kenya and the Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest ethnic group.

Violence was also described as an outcome of neglecting the boy child, with slightly more than one-tenth of claims making this connection. Unlike education, where the women tended to focus on boys themselves, violence was an arena in which women connected the boy child to the state of men. In one opinion piece, columnist Njeri Aseneka reflected on the spate of men in Nairobi publicly stripping women they perceived to be indecently dressed. She began by condemning this “barbaric behavior,” writing that “the bottom line is that it’s a woman’s call [what she wears], and no one should ‘discipline’ her for her choices” ( Nation , September 12, 2014). But, delving into the question of cause, she comes to the boy child:

Over the years there have been myriad campaigns and affirmative action to empower girls and women. It’s only now emerging this could have tilted the balance against the boy child. Who knows what this could be doing to the psyche of these young men as they watch women take up jobs and responsibilities they thought were their entitlement … Given that sexual violations are increasing and are about power, could these men be trying, in their misguided ways, to reclaim their lost authority over women? ( Nation , September 12, 2014).

In a critique of a conference on “Challenging Patriarchy” organized by a German NGO, another columnist, Dorothy Kweyu, similarly associated men’s violence against women with not paying enough attention to boys, arguing:

Blanket condemnation of patriarchy, and masculinity, ignores the fact that masculinity and femininity are two sides of the same coin, and any attempts at playing one against the other will be catastrophic as it’s quite likely that ignoring the boy-child is the cause of rising violence ( Nation , October 27, 2013).

In these claims, women argued that attention needs to be paid to boys, not for men to regain their rightful superior position in society, but rather for men to be different and for women’s lives to be better.

Lastly, in about five percent of claims, some claims-makers associated the neglect of the boy child with women’s difficulties in finding partners. In a feature about a newly formed boys school, the head of the school Purity Kiruri, who founded it in honor of her deceased daughter said, “Even as it is a noble endeavour to empower the girl child, the boy child has been ignored to the extent that our girls have no one to marry as the men are wallowing in alcohol and irresponsibility” ( Standard , January 22, 2012). Though both men and women voiced concerns about declining marriage, some women drew on personal experience. Karimi Gatimi, in her column “Wife Speak,” described how she conducted some “informal research” amongst single women after a former classmate told her, “But there are no good, single men anymore!” ( Nation , February 17, 2015). After hearing of women’s difficulties in finding partners, Gatimi wondered “whether we might we have concentrated too much on empowering the girl child, given her the right exposure, believed in her abilities and raised her standards but forgot the boy child.” When it comes to violence and partnering, women’s well-being was central to the arguments from certain claims-makers, mostly women, to redirect attention back to the boy child.

Solutions and Backlash

Despite the urgency with which most claims-makers spoke about the boy child, the large majority did not propose a solution. The most common attempt at a solution, featured in around a fifth of claims, was a vague call to action, urging the public or a particular group to “pay attention to,” “rescue,” and “nurture” the boy child, as well as a similar plea to “balance gender equality” and to “remember” both the girl and boy child. Amongst the more concrete recommendations, the most common, featured in slightly over one-tenth of claims, was a call for greater guidance and mentoring of boys either through formal mentorship programs or family networks. Two other distinct but infrequently proposed sets of solutions, found in just under five percent of claims, included providing boys with more resources, generally through establishing more all-boys schools and providing boys with “hygiene kits,” and changing laws, such as the Sexual Offences Act (2006) to protect young men in consensual relationships from being sent to prison.

The solutions proposed were closely tied to wide-ranging attitudes about gender equality. At the far end of the spectrum was Ndiritu Njoka, the leader of a group called Maendeleo ya Wanaume , which directly translates from Kiswahili as Progress for Men, mirroring the name of the women’s organization Maendeleo ya Wanawake . A highly provocative character who had been accused of domestic violence, Njoka made boy child claims and also provoked others to do so; 15 claims were either from him or mentioned him. From Nyeri in central Kenya, Njoka’s views are encapsulated in the title of his book, Coup de Grace: Gender Apartheid 1st World War of Sexes , in which he argued that a worldwide plot to eliminate men was afoot ( Nation , November 8, 2013). In one interview, he stated that “women were created for men” ( Nation , November 24, 2014). His proposals to remedy the boy child issue, and gender relations in Kenya more broadly, ranged from urging men to refuse to have sex with their wives to more serious policy prescriptions such as limiting women’s representation in parliament and assuring that men have automatic custody of children in cases of separation.

Another distinct group of claims-makers were those who did not propose gender regressive policies or explicitly articulate a gender hierarchy but who nonetheless suggested that girl empowerment had upset the balance of gender relations and that stability needed to be restored. The most influential individual holding this view was Pastor Simon Mbevi, who set up a large-scale seminar series for boys and men and authored eight books on “fatherhood, family and sexual purity.” In an interview, he stated, “Unlike the girl child who has been empowered, the boy child has been neglected and no one is arming him to be a leader as the society dictates” ( Standard , May 25, 2014). In terms of the cause of the problem, Mbevi appeared mainly concerned about the absence of fathers, saying, “Without responsible fathers in our society, our generation is doomed. We are bringing up a society full of pink men or mama’s boys.” As a solution, he asked men to step in as mentors into single-mother homes. Mbevi pushed the boundaries of masculinity somewhat by emphasizing the importance of fathers being loving rather than harsh or frightening and of men opening up to one another about their problems. However, he mainly seemed concerned about raising boys as they “should” be and not straying too far from a gender order in which men are the leaders.

The third distinct stance was motivated by a concern for women’s well-being, often raising the issues of violence and partnering. This view lacked a figurehead like Njoka or Mbevi, and was mainly held by women. For example, columnist Valentine Njoroge critiqued Njoka’s proposal that men refuse to have sex with their wives to highlight the plight of the boy child. Before outlining her thoughts on boys and men as well as proposing her solutions, Njoroge provided a disclaimer:

Let me be clear, I want emancipation for all. The feminist movement is about creating equal opportunities for women—an environment in which women have choices—to be or not to be a housewife, to pursue or not to pursue a career, to serve or not to serve in government and so on. We have made great strides but a glance at our representation in leadership tells you that we still have a long way to go and we are not pausing for the boy-child ( Star , November 22, 2014).

Here Njoroge is critiquing current gender inequality in Kenya and suggesting that the figure of the boy child has been used to block, at least discursively, progress in this area. She went on to argue, however, that her position as a woman makes her particularly concerned about the boy child, writing: “As the end-user of what the boy child is growing into I am to raise him, be governed by him (men hold the majority in legislation and government), marry him, raise a family with him, and perhaps employ him.” She also highlighted the issue of finding partners, writing that she is interested in a man who would “celebrate, support, and even invest” in her success, and yet men are often drunk, unfaithful, or violent. In response to these problems, she wrote, “I believe men and boys need spaces where they can be heard, understood and supported.” At first glance, this proposed solution for greater guidance appears quite similar to the proposals of those who felt that girl empowerment had gone “too far.” However, it is radically different in that its motivation is rooted in a concern for women’s well-being.

For these boy child claims-makers concerned with gender equality, one distinct solution proposed was to raise boys differently . Exemplifying this approach, columnist Dorothy Kweyu wrote that reducing violence in Kenya required “a total overhaul of the boy child’s upbringing to bring out his better side” ( Nation , November 28, 2004). Steps in this regard “could include teaching him that there is nothing wrong in displaying tender behaviour towards those he claims to love.” Kweyu concludes her column with a final suggestion on raising boys and a critique of the status quo more broadly, writing, “It means teaching boys that there is nothing demeaning in the so-called “feminine” tasks, just as there is nothing redeeming in the image of power and domination that our society has perpetuated, to its own detriment.” At the heart of this type of boy child claim lies the fact that Kenyan women live alongside Kenyan men, and that for women’s lives to be better, men must change. And for this, there is no better starting point than where men begin — as boys.

Based on two decades of online newspaper texts, this study examines the emergence of debate surrounding the boy child in Kenya and its relation to women’s shifting social position. In contrast to prior research on backlash and reactions to gender equality more broadly, both of which generally take particular groups as their starting point, I focus on the discourse itself. Making boy child claims the unit of analysis brought to the fore a wide array of perspectives and discursive actors that might not have been visible otherwise. This framework, which I call a discursive spectrum approach, thus revealed the boy child narrative’s complex relationship to gender equality. It draws on scholars who largely focused on analyzing policy documents or debates about government obligations ( Fraser 1990 ; Bacchi 2012 ; Lombardo, Meier, and Verloo 2009 ). This article thus illustrates the value of extending these ideas beyond the policy realm to include more emerging discourses, when the general public is debating whether a particular social issue qualifies as a “problem.”

The predominant narrative around the boy child was that after a great deal of focus on the girl child, the boy child has been neglected and needs attention. The frequency with which the term appeared in the three newspapers suggests that a problematized discourse around the boy child was already present at the beginning of the 2000s, but accelerated around 2010. The growth in boy child discourse over time can in part be explained by the narrative’s contentious nature. In a snowball fashion, boy child claims generated more boy child claims as actors affirmed or critiqued others’ use of the narrative. The escalation of claims also resulted from the narrative’s movement from discourse to action. Amidst continuing debate about the state of the boy child, around 2013, groups and individuals began taking action in the name of the boy child that in turn generated further boy child claims. This actioning of the narrative shows not only how crisis tendencies ( Connell 1987 ) can produce a discourse, but also how that discourse, once it has reached a certain momentum, can then shape the contours of the crisis tendency itself.

A focus on discourse revealed that claims-makers who argued that the boy child had been forgotten held wide-ranging views on gender equality. These included those who lamented men’s loosening hold on power and advocated for a rollback of gender equality policies. Other claims-makers thought the fight for gender equality still had a long way to go. In between were others who showed some discomfort in the shifting gender power balance, speaking of men’s “rightful” position as leaders, but not calling for policy change. In this sense, the boy child discourse is indeed a reaction to women’s changing social position, but the variety of motivations suggests that the discourse cannot be categorized solely as negative backlash. This spectrum of attitudes aligns with scholarship on the reception of expanding women’s rights ( Wyrod 2008 ; Dworkin et al. 2012 ), but also shows how those with opposing views on gender equality can become unexpected bedfellows in agreeing that boys and men need attention.

The analysis suggests that this mercurial relationship of the narrative to gender equality is a result of two main contradictions in Kenya’s gender order that have accompanied the focus on the girl child and women’s rights. For some, the contradiction is that men are meant to be the power-holders in society yet they appear to be losing their grip, including in families (evidenced by single-mother households) and in schools (where girls are beginning to outperform boys). For others, the contradiction is that women are struggling with issues, such as violence, that require men to change and cannot be solved through women’s empowerment alone. In central Kenya, higher levels of education and employment amongst women ( KNBS et al. 2015 ) combined with the matrilineal history of the Kikuyu ( Kenyatta 1965 ) could simultaneously be heightening the potential and threat of gender equality efforts, leading to the greater number of boy child claims referencing this part of Kenya.

Though these contradictions can lead groups with very different views on gender equality to agree that boys need attention, what exactly to do about it remains a source of contention. Some claims-makers use the boy child narrative to attempt to reverse or stall change in the gender order. Others, largely women, use the boy child narrative to highlight the entanglement of women’s well-being with that of men and to argue that men must change, simultaneously dismissing the idea that gender equality has gone “too far” and that gender equality efforts should only focus on girls and women. This latter group of claims echoes the theoretical tenant of gender and development that “an undifferentiated and unilateral focus on women is not only conceptually inappropriate, but deprives gender interventions of their transformative potential” ( Chant and Guttman 2000 , 9). These varied solutions provide important insights into why various claims-makers think the boy child needs attention.

In many ways, the boy child is just as vaguely presented as his girl child sister, often described without any qualifiers, but simply as “the boy child.” Of particular note, the boy child is rarely explicitly referred to as the poor boy child, and yet the problems associated with the boy child clearly show a class dimension, such as boys dropping out of school to earn money. Another class dimension is the close relationship of Pastor Simon Mbevi, the boy child advocate who has published books and founded a seminar series on masculinity, to more middle-class churches in Kenya ( Gitau 2018 ). Further examination of the complex interaction between class and gender, and potentially religion too, in the boy child discourse is beyond the scope of this article, but it is worthy of further investigation along the lines of Lindsay’s (2018) study of the interaction of race and gender in all-black boys schools in the United States. As gender gaps in schooling outcomes close, and even reverse, across much of the Global South ( Grant and Behrman 2010 ), debates around “neglected” boys will likely only grow. As they do, keeping the focus on which boys are disadvantaged is paramount. In the Caribbean, where a discourse around underperforming boys has existed since the early 1990s, the resulting education policy focus on boys has largely overlooked the significant differences in education outcomes by class ( Cobbett and Younger 2012 )

This study has some limitations. The first is that because the data were retrieved online, I likely did not obtain all the texts published about the boy child during the period of study (1999 to 2017). This is almost certainly the case for The Standard , which was publishing in print throughout the period, and yet the first text in the study from this newspaper dates from 2009. The incomplete corpus of boy child texts is likely further due to the potential inconsistencies in the three newspapers’ search engines. Other limitations can serve as starting points for future research. Given my focus on English-language publications, I am not able to speak to what narratives around the boy child exist in other languages in Kenya; the regional patterns that emerged suggest that examining the discourse around the boy child in Kikuyu could be particularly interesting. Similarly, future research could study boy child discourse in other media arenas, such as TV and radio as well as blogs. Lastly, the use of newspaper texts means that the boy child narrative presented here is an institutionalized one: editorial boards influence which events to cover, who can write as a columnist, which letters to print, and ultimately, shape the words used. As such, there remains a need to study how this produced narrative is being received, understood, and generated on the ground.

The discursive spectrum approach taken in this article could be applied to contexts beyond Kenya that are witnessing public debate that might represent opposition to gender equality as well as policy debates around “what to do” about boys and men. A discursive spectrum approach starts with the discourse itself, paying attention to the range of orientations to gender equality amongst claims-makers. One phrase or saying—the boy child, in this case—can be an effective entry point. Claims-makers’ concerns and goals around a particular problem can be used to assess their attitudes to gender equality and the problems associated with a particular issue (e.g., violence against women and the boy child) can show why different claims-makers care about that issue. Moreover, the solutions they propose can indicate the type of society they desire. Together, these views can then point to types of claims-makers, who may or may not be formally connected to one another.

Discourse is a site of both risk and opportunity for gender equality. Many groups with competing visions can strategically draw on the same words and slogans to champion their preferred gender order. Identifying a discursive spectrum can reveal elements of backlash in public debate before they escalate into a serious political force and can help make sense of the perennially contentious discourse around policy attention to boys and men.

Supplementary Material

Supplementary appendix.

Isabel Pike is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on gender and the transition to adulthood in sub-Saharan Africa.

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20 Debate Topics About Education

A topic which is guaranteed to stimulate passionate debate in your class is education. After all, education issues have the potential to directly affect your students and their futures. In this post, you will find 20 debate topics about education that you can use in your debate class. These are suitable for middle school students, high school students, and adults.

Debate Topics About Education

Here are 20 debate topics about education. All the topics below are formed as a statement so ask your students if they agree or disagree with the statements below.

School uniforms are important at school.
Education should be free for everyone.
All student loan debts should be forgiven.
Private schools are better than public schools.
Tuition fees are too expensive.
Homework is an important part of education.
All exams should be replaced with coursework.
School meals should be free for all.
Teachers should have to wear a school uniform.
Boys and girls should be taught separately.
Cell phones should be allowed in the classroom.
All students should learn at least one foreign language.
Homeschooling is just as good as traditional schooling.
School vacations should be shortened to allow more school days.
Detention should be abolished in schools.
Social media should be banned in schools.
Security guards should be in all schools.
University should be compulsory for all.
Playing games in the classroom is important.
Science is a more important subject than art.

Download And Print

Download and print these debate topics about education.

7 Reasons Why Female Education Is Better Than Male Education

Someone rightly said that if you educate a male child, you educate a family, and if you educate a female child, you educate a whole nation. This means educating female children has more effect on the nation than their male counterparts.

This article is not intended to demean any gender but rather to assist students you want to debate on the topic .

Education means studying in order to obtain a deeper knowledge and understanding of a variety of subjects to be applied to daily life. This way, you have stability in life and other benefits that come with it.

Read: Is male education better than female education

Reasons Why Female Education is Better

Gender equality.

It is no longer news that over the years, male child has enjoyed a quality education than their female counterparts, leading to inequality in all areas of life. For instance, male children are more financially secure and more self-dependent. To correct this anomaly, a female child should be given more preference than a male child regarding education.

Some professions need empathetic people, such as the medical profession. So, this profession needs more female children than male children. Expressing empathy is highly effective and powerful, which builds patient trust, calms anxiety, and improves health outcomes. So, educating female children in line with this profession will practically bring significant improvement to the health sector.

This describes the performance of a set of different tasks in a short period of time, and this requires a greater cognitive demand. So this means that educating a female child will be more helpful in the nation’s development.

It is the non-observance of national ethics and discipline in countries in the world that has given rise to fraud, political unrest, embezzlement of public funds, corruption, etc. So, when someone’s conduct is in line with its effect on the nation, he/she is bound to participate in the activities that will bring good name and development of the nation.

With the right education and this quality (discipline) in a female child, the nation is bound to experience development.

Economic growth

Female children are more resourceful and know how to manage scarce resources, and this is crucial for economic growth. Countries with higher literacy rates (male and female) tend to be in better economic situations.

Female children are co-creator i.e. having the ability to jointly create something of high benefit with another person. So, given the right education to this set of gender will improve families and the world at large.

Peace and Unity

Female children are more peaceful and more unifying than their male counterparts. For example, Mary Slessor who was a missionary in Nigeria adopted all the abandoned babies she found and cared for them at the Mission House. She also successfully stopped the killing of twins in Calabar after so many obstacles. So, if a girl child is educated the nation will see positive changes in all aspect.

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COMMENTS

Boys enjoy educational advantages despite being less ...
Boys enjoy educational advantages despite being less engaged in school than girls. Girls are more engaged in school than boys, and that is a big reason girls (and women) tend to do better ...
Boy-child Education in Nigeria: Issues and Implications on National
This article is an in-depth study on boy-child education in Nigeria. This is not a debate between boy-child education and girl-child education which is more important and why, rather it is a research that constructively calls the attention of all and sundry to the neglect of the boy-child education and its implications on National development.
How do the educational experiences of girls and boys differ?
Around the world, 91 per cent of girls ever enter primary school compared to 93 per cent of boys. As the education journey continues, however, the balance starts to progressively shift in favor of girls. An almost equal share of girls and boys make the transition to lower secondary school - 78 per cent versus 79 per cent, respectively.
PDF Boys versus girls' educational performance: Empirical evidences from
in all realms of education and outperformed boy students. Studies across the developed world conclude that boys have been outperformed by girls in education at school, college and university level (McDowell, 2000; Tshabalala and Ncube, 2016). Similarly, Hung et al. (2012) argues that female students in United Kingdom have
PDF Fifty Years of Boy Child Education in Kenya: A Paradigm Shift
in Kenya, the boy child is beginning to lag behind the way the girl child was years back. Soon there may be a boy child crisis and a new gender gap between boys and girls. This paper explores the challenges facing boy child education suggesting an equitable approach to the provision of education for both girls and boys. Data
An Argument for Universal Preschool and Childcare in The U.s
We also argue these programs should be expanded to children of younger ages, especially because half of parents use non-parental care arrangements for children ages 0 to 2 years old (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). Standardizing and ensuring access to high-quality care for infants and toddlers is critical because brain ...
The Boy-child situation in education: a case study of Eastern ...
Essentially equitable access of females to primary education was achieved in 1981 in the Eastern region. Female enrolment ratio for the year 1992 to 1995 ranged between 50-52 percent, with an average of 51 percent. In effect more girls than boys were enrolled in primary school in the region between 1992 and 1995.
What about the boys? Addressing educational underachievement of boys
Education systems that emphasize the specific needs of each student and that create an inclusive environment free of gender stereotyping benefit both boys and girls. Attention needs to be paid to those specific issues and contexts in educational settings that affect and can mitigate the underachievement of boys and men.
Full article: Boys will be boys: Young people's perceptions and
Introduction. Gender is one of the most powerful social groups to which we belong and the one we typically recognise earliest. From as young as two years old, children recognise gender differences in characteristics and roles and these quickly begin to shape children's behaviour (Berenbaum et al., Citation 2008; Bigler & Liben, Citation 1992).This can be reinforced by their parents who may ...
Five key debates for the future of education
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.
PDF THE STATUS OF THE BOY CHILD IN KENYA
The general perception in all counties was that the boy child faces challenges that tend to hinder his enjoyment of opportunities for progress especially in education. The assessment identified the key drivers of exclusion of the boy child to include issues re-lated to homes and families, socialization process, cultural and traditional factors. The
Teachers' views of debates over race, LGBTQ issues being taught about
Pew Research Center February 22, 2024. Race and LGBTQ Issues in K-12 Schools. 2. Teachers' views of current debates about what schools should be teaching. By Luona Lin, Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Kiley Hurst and Dana Braga. We asked teachers what type of impact current debates about how public schools should be teaching about topics like race ...
PDF The Tragedy of the Boy Child amid Souring Girl Child Empowerment
We should empower the boy child to strengthen the future fathers. It is sad that the boy child has to choose his own future and chart his course without much guidance from the society (Government of Kenya, 1998). This neglect is noticed. In his bid to find his bearing, the boy child has now turned to vices such as
PDF Writing a two-sided argument essay
because some children find it difficult to fit into the school system because they are especially gifted or have problems of some kind. However, despite the various arguments that have been put forward for home tutoring, this essay will argue that it is better for a child to be educated at school. Teaching children at home has a number of ...
Male Child is More Important than a Female Child Debate
In terms of education, female children are more important than their male counterparts because if you educate a male child you educate just one person but when you educate a female child you educate the nation. The reason is because they will impact that knowledge to their children, neighbors and so on. A son is a son until he gets a wife.
A DISCURSIVE SPECTRUM: The Narrative of Kenya's 'Neglected' Boy Child
An Evolving Discourse. The narrative of the neglected boy child was present as early as the turn of the century. In 2000, a news article reported on a spate of attacks by boys on girls' secondary schools across the country, in which "the boys raid, rape and injure the girls" ( Nation, November 27, 2000).
20 Debate Topics About Education
School vacations should be shortened to allow more school days. Detention should be abolished in schools. Social media should be banned in schools. Security guards should be in all schools. University should be compulsory for all. Playing games in the classroom is important. Science is a more important subject than art.
Female child is better than male child
2 points. A female child is better than a male child, in term of soft and tender mind, female are on the soft side than male. Talking about home assistance to parents, they are on the parents side. male are often known to be lazy in assisting parents in house work. So female are also better in this regard.
Empower the boy child to improve mental health
Government agencies, communities, the private sector and civil society must activate necessary investments in the boy child. Research has shown there is an intersection between mental health and empowerment. A dent in one stifles the other, resulting in serious implications for humanity. Nation. Empower Africa.
Is Male Education Better Than Female Education? » Servantboy
Family Pride. Most families in Africa consider a male child as the family's pride and see the female ones as of no value. It is a pride of the family when their boys are well educated. Some family even believes that investing in a female child's education is a waste of money, time, and resources. Read: Reasons why education is better than ...
ROLE OF THE GIRL CHILD IN A CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY ...
Issues of girl child development have generated a high decibel of discussions in the international community in recent times. From the advocacies of Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thurnberg at the ...
Parent's Attitude towards Girl's Child Education. A Review
The advancement and betterment of society are significantly influenced by women education. Women instructors who can act as role models for girls and who might put parents of young girls at ease ...
7 Reasons Why Female Education Is Better Than Male Education
Gender Equality. It is no longer news that over the years, male child has enjoyed a quality education than their female counterparts, leading to inequality in all areas of life. For instance, male children are more financially secure and more self-dependent. To correct this anomaly, a female child should be given more preference than a male ...