Analysis Of The War Against Boys By Christina Sommers

Education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world. For many years women have been fighting for equal rights, today gender bias continues to create huge barriers. Over the years women have made tremendous gains, such as fighting for equal rights in the early 19th century, and have professions such as medicine and law where in the 19th century women couldn’t do. In “The War against Boys” by Christina Sommers, argues that in the United States girls are outperforming boys in school academics. Current research shows that Sommers is correct, girls tend to do better in school because parents and teachers have an effect on the educational gender gap. Daughters want to please their teachers by, making homework as neat as possible.

Sons rush through homework assignments and run outside to play.
It all began during the 19th century, women wanted to have equal rights just as men. They knew they could be more than just a simple housewife. During that century women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law. Also, women couldn’t gain an education since no college or university would accept women students. Women fought until their voice was heard, and the equal rights amendment was designed. From that moment on, women have made many gains. According to Kyong Hee Chee, Kuh states that “gender also seems to influence what type of student groups one affiliates with. Women are more likely to be labeled as a "grind" whereas men are much more likely to be labeled as a "recreator". Grinds exhibit a high level of academic effort and recreators are involved with sports and exercise. Students labeled as grinds exhibited attitudes and behaviors very similar to those who have been identified as possessing an academic ethic (Chee 3).” Being labeled as a grind encourages women to keep working hard for what they have already accomplished and not lose that high rank position they've gained.
There are many reasons to why women have made these gains. Teachers are one of the many people who have an effect on the educational gender gap. Teachers can influence students to engage or behave different through role model effects. Furthermore, same gender teachers may also communicate different expectations to the boys and girls in their classrooms. According to Sofie Lietaert, “the role of teachers’ autonomy support, structure, and involvement, indicated that girls scored higher on most of these constructs, especially for behavioral engagement. This implies that girls generally exert more effort, participate more actively in class, and show higher attention and persistence than boys. Previous literature has provided some explanations for these gender differences in favor of girls, that is girls also scored higher for the antecedents of engagement such as motivation, the activities at school and the content of the school curriculum might be too feminine for boys due to the focus on language and verbal learning. Because gender differences are more prominently present in behavioral engagement, this study specifically focuses on this student engagement dimension (Lietaert ).” Same gender teachers have a huge impact on student’s behavior and academic achievement, with respect to how they engage to boys and girls in the classroom.
Another reason why women have made these gains are due to parents’ influences.

As the years have gone by it seems that the role model effects have indeed affected little girls, at a young age they are taught of all the accomplishments women have made since the 19th century and that encourages them to do better academic wise. Also, if a child knows that there parent has attended college and is successful in life it influences them to do good at a young age to get into a good college. According to Ryan Wells, “Parents’ educational attainment influences their children’s educational expectations in terms of providing financial resources and as a model of college-going behavior. Having attended college themselves, parents indirectly define the value of attending postsecondary institutions and attaining postsecondary education. However, the positive effect of parental educational attainment appears to have lessened in magnitude in recent cohorts of students. Much of the research that examines the effects of parental education on children’s expectations focuses on the gender-socialization perspective. This perspective asserts that women look to the example of their mothers and men to the example of their fathers in forming their educational expectations. The examination of same-sex, parent-child effects versus opposite-sex, parent-child effects has been largely inconclusive. Although some studies find the educational level of mothers to have a greater positive effect on the

educational expectations of daughters and the educational level of fathers to have a greater positive effect for sons,( Ryan Wells, ).”
In the reading “The War against Boys” by Christina Sommers, argues that in the United States girls are outperforming boys in school academics.

According to Christina Hoff Sommers, the U.S. Department of Education and several recent university studies show that far from being shy and demoralized, today's girls outshine boys. They get better grades. They have higher educational aspirations. They follow more rigorous academic programs and participate in advanced-placement classes at higher rates (Sommers). In accordance with what Sommers say is the research of Kyong Hee Chee. Chee states that according to Kuh, Women are more likely to be labeled as a "grind" and as it was previously said, Grinds exhibit a high level of academic

effort.
According to Christina, the National Center for Education Statistics show that slightly more girls than boys enroll in high-level math and science courses. Girls, allegedly timorous and lacking in confidence, now outnumber boys in student government, in honor societies, on school newspapers, and in debating clubs. Only in sports are boys ahead, and women's groups are targeting the sports gap with a vengeance. Girls read more books. They outperform boys on tests for artistic and musical ability. More girls than boys study abroad. More join the Peace Corps. At the same time, more boys than girls are suspended from school. More are held back and more drop out. Boys are three times as likely to receive a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. More boys than girls are involved in crime, alcohol, and drugs. Girls attempt suicide more often than boys, but it is boys who more often succeed. In 1997, a typical year, 4,483 young people aged five to twenty-four committed suicide: 701 females and 3,782 males (Sommers )
Also, according to Christina, Girls are academically more engaged "Daughters want to please their teachers by spending extra time on projects, doing extra credit, making homework as neat as possible. Sons rush through homework assignments and run outside to play, unconcerned about how the teacher will regard the sloppy work (Sommers ).” These behaviors by children have to do with the role model effect of parents. Just as the research by Ryan wells, parents’ tend to influence their child. With this being said, particular research from The Department of Education reports that in 1996 there were 8.4 million women but only 6.7 million men enrolled in college. It predicts that women will hold onto and increase their lead well into the next decade, and that by 2007 the numbers will be 9.2 million women and 6.9 million men (Sommers ). This research shows what a great impact gender gap in academic achievement is causing to male students.
In conclusion, the widening gender gap in academic achievement is real. Girls tend to do better in school because parents and teachers have an effect on the educational gender gap. Current research supports Sommers and indeed shows that the future of American boys are in threat. Teacher role model are a huge impact to students, considering that there are more female teachers boy tend to not have a strong role model connection which causes sex differences in the schools.