Dear Editor,

At the 2023 commencement service held at the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) last Sunday, the president, Professor Haldane Davies, highlighted the gap between the number of female graduates (78 per cent) and their male counterparts (22 per cent). He charged, “Men, we must do better!”

Prof Davies is right, as the number is pretty dismal. The Gleaner, in an editorial on Wednesday, July 19 titled ‘Men and education’, highlighted that the concerning situation is not unique to UCC as the same reality exists across higher education institutions, both private and public.

If our young men are not in school, where are they? Why are they not there? Is academics attractive to our males? Is our pedagogy reaching them? Does the society expect them to obtain university degrees?

We can appreciate, however, that this situation does not start at the tertiary level. We have to go to the root of it – infancy. Of course, views vary in terms of the rate at which boys develop and learn compared to girls, and children have different passions and multiple intelligences. But could it be that the level of expectation, attention, and care given to girls far supersedes that given to boys? Does the society expect boys to fail?

I believe one of the reasons males are under-represented at tertiary-level institutions is because they have a drive to become independent very early. Therefore, even in high school, many teenage boys do a little hustle to help send themselves to school or support their families. As soon as many of them complete high school, or even drop out, they continue along this path because they were cultured to have a survivor’s mentality.

Consequently, it is difficult for many of them to spend two years completing a programme at university. You can imagine how much harder it is to take on a three- or four-year course of study. In fact, many young men find it hard to even go to HEART/NSTA Trust to gain certification in a skill, because, to them, that is a loss of valuable time that they could use to earn some money.

What is worse is that many of them understand that a degree sometimes reaps little financial reward; therefore, why bother?

Notwithstanding, we still have to implement programmes and invest in resources to get our males educated and skilled. Daily in the news we see the high number of them who are killed or imprisoned because of criminal activities. It is very concerning.

Established men need to do more to provide mentorship to the younger ones. As a young academic I see how much my male students value having a young lecturer with whom they can relate. It inspires them to believe their dreams are also achievable.

Having become, let us help others become as well. Let us guide our young men on the right path. Too many of them are either sitting idly or are involved in illegal activities. Men, fathers, and teachers, let us dare to inspire our young men.

Oneil Madden

maddenoniel@yahoo.com