I just want to say, as someone who actually is a feminist person, without the scare quotes, it's much better for society as a whole, and for women, if boys do as well in education as possible.

I too would like to see more research on this (and also a lot more policy attention given to international research which I think is something NZ does badly).

But, I also think this article fudges the issue slightly in the way it suddenly shifts the goalposts from all boys to disadvantaged boys. The gender pay gap is not going away anytime soon. This is partly due to sector pay differences, and most of the trades are still not particularly welcoming for young women (given that, it's no wonder young women throw themselves into tertiary in such numbers). Middleclass boys by and large are still becoming successful men, as far as I can see.

[–] absGeekNZ 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It wasn't meant as scare quotes, the person in question called themselves a feminist. I don't know many, but those I do know want what's best for all. They are not looking to oppresse men to "get back at them".

[–] liv 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Sounds about right. Most people I (used to) know are feminist at least as an adjective, and want equality and/or equitable outcomes for all.

That post you saw had an outlook that's pretty weird/radicalized imo. None of us have been alive for centuries (unless we're counting the undead).

[–] absGeekNZ 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks for the reply.

I am quite passionate about education, I also have 3 young boys so I'm biased toward quality education for boys, that we seem to be failing at.

[–] liv 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I can understand that. There's a young boy in my family and I really don't want him to be disadvantaged by the system.

Not sure what it's like now, but when I was working I got the impression that the secondary system was setting up some people to fail. We really needed more equitable teaching across deciles.