Are Millennial Men Rejecting “Manhood”?

A major evolution is underway among millennial men and women in their values.

Douglas LaBier Ph.D.

The New Resilience

In this era of #MeToo, and controversy about “toxic masculinity,” some new research is very relevant: It indicates a shift is underway in how young men envision “manhood” — in their attitudes, their values, and their behavior — in their relationships, their careers, and their view of “success.”  I think we’re in the midst of a generational evolution with large-scale societal and political implications. 

To illustrate, one study (link is external)of over 600 millennial-aged men found that they are likely to be selfless, in contrast to the old “looking out for number one” attitude. They are also socially engaged with issues and causes and are highly health-conscious. 

Overall, this study from the University of British of Columbia(link is external) found that the masculine value they most strongly endorsed was selflessness. As described in this report(link is external), “Ninety-one per cent of the men agreed that a man should help other people, and 80 percent believed that a man should give back to the community. Openness also ranked highly — 88 per cent said a man should be open to new ideas, new experiences, and new people — and so did health, with a majority of participants saying that men should be healthy or in good shape.” 

Moreover, the traditionally “male” values ranked lower on the scale. They are still valued by the majority of participants, but less so than other values. For example, 75 per cent of the men said that a man should have physical strength, compared with 87 per cent who said a man should have intellectual strength, and 83 per cent who said emotional strength. Autonomy was also ranked lower, with 78 per cent saying that a man should be “independent.”

I think these findings are significant as generational shifts continue. Although the study was conducted with men from Western Canada, they likely reflect a broad, growing theme among the attitudes and values among younger people who enter adulthood in an increasingly diverse, interconnected world. As lead author John Oliffe said(link is external), they “…seem to be holding masculine values that are distinctly different from those of previous generations. These values may run counter to long-standing claims that young men are typically hedonistic, hypercompetitive, and that they risk or neglect their health.” Added co-author Nick Black(link is external), they “…are expanding their definition of masculinity to include values like openness and well-being. The study was published in Psychology of Men & Masculinity. (link is external)

We’re also witnessing the impact of millennial values — among both men and women — upon the workplace, in how they deal with their work and careers. For example, a new study(link is external) finds that millennials are prone to leave their jobs when they experience a “values gap” between themselves and the workplace culture – particularly around sustainability issues.

That’s especially notable because it contrasts with older generations. That is, many people report great dissatisfaction and dislike with their management and leadership culture, as many surveys and polls show. But most tend to suffer emotionally and physically; often frozen in place, perhaps from fear of losing what they already have, or insecurity about change.

Millennials appear to have a different mentality altogether. A summary of this new study from the University of Missouri(link is external) reports that millennials tend to job hop – something well known about them, and that older workers don’t understand. And a major reason is that they feel a disconnection between their personal values and the workplace culture. As one of the researchers, Rachel LoMonaco-Benzing explained,(link is external) “Not only did we find a gap, but we also found that workers were much more likely to leave a job if they felt their values were not reflected in the workplace.”

Co-author Jung Ha-Brookshire added(link is external) “They have been raised with a sense of pro-social, pro-environment values, and they are looking to be engaged. If they find that a company doesn’t honor these values and contributions, many either will try to change the culture or find employment elsewhere.” The researchers say that companies need to understand that the new generation of workers have high ethical and social expectations. The study was published in the journal Sustainability.(link is external)

All of these changes in values, attitudes and behavior among millennials are likely to have increasing impact on all realms of our society in the years ahead. Stay tuned!

Original article

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-new-resilience/201806/are-millennial-men-rejecting-manhood

Black and Latino Students Are Still Left Behind In School Systems

Racial divide:Minority students face more discipline, data reveals

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Black and Latino students across the United States are far more likely to be suspended than white students - and far less likely to have access to rigorous college-prep courses, according to a sweeping study released on Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.

 The trove of data, collected from 72,000 schools serving 85 percent of the nation's students, revealed tremendous disparities in the public school experiences of minority and white students.

Some of the most striking findings involved discipline: one in five African-American boys - and one in 10 African-American girls - was suspended from school during the study period, the 2009-10 school year.

Overall, African-American students are 3-1/2 times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers. And 70 percent of students arrested or referred to law enforcement for disciplinary infractions are black or Latino, the study found. Other researchers have found that students who are repeatedly punished by being barred from campus are far more likely to drop out.

Academic opportunities also vary widely by race. Among high schools that serve predominately Latino and African-American students, just 29 percent offer a calculus class and only 40 percent offer physics. In some school districts, those numbers are even more glaring. In New York City, for instance, just 10 percent of the high schools with the highest black and Latino enrollment offer Algebra II. 

Low income schools trying to retain good teachers may have come up with a solution: teacher apprentices. NBC's Thanh Truong reports.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was careful to say that his department is "not alleging overt discrimination in some or all of these cases."
But he said he hoped the data would prompt soul-searching as educators across the nation confront inequities.

"In the big picture, this is really about self-analysis," Duncan said. He urged teachers and administrators to "look in the mirror, at the good, the bad and the ugly, and figure out what's going on."

According to The New York Times, Duncan said education was "the civil rights of our generation."

"The undeniable truth is that the everyday education experience for too many students of color violates the principle of equity at the heart of the American promise."

Enduring stereotypes
That may be easier said than done, said Kevin Welner, director of the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The data hint uncomfortably at crude assumptions and enduring stereotypes about "who should be in school, who should be preparing to go to college, who can learn" - and "many of those beliefs stem back from before you or I were born," Welner said. "That's hard to change."

 Other studies over the decades have found similar racial disparities in student discipline and academic opportunity. But the new report, which Duncan is scheduled to release today in an event at Howard University, is more detailed and comprehensive than most. (The data will be published online here.)

NBC News: Education Nation 
It breaks down the national data district by district and school by school. And it looks at racial disparities in realms as varied as access to pre-kindergarten programs; success in Advanced Placement courses; and the use of physical restraints on students with disabilities.

 The release of such wide-ranging data "is very important for is if we're to gain the national will to overcome our aversion to looking at race," said Russell Skiba, who directs the Equity Project at Indiana University's School of Education. "It's tough to talk about race. It's awkward. But this data gives us a bit of a road map.

The Times reported that the Department of Education has been gathering data on civil rights and education since 1968, but that the Bush administration suspended the project in 2006. It has now been reinstated and for the first time has been collecting data on referrals to law enforcement, which sheds more light on an increasing concern by civil rights advocates that there is a track from schools into prisons for many students of color.
 The report, known as the Civil Rights Data Collection, seeks to prod change by calling attention to districts that have used what Duncan called "best practices" to reduce inequities.

It points, for instance, to a high school in Montgomery County, Maryland, that serves a largely black and Hispanic population - and enrolls those students in physics at an impressive rate. The report also highlights an elementary school in an impoverished neighborhood of Dade County, Florida that enrolls nearly 17 percent of its black and Hispanic students in a program for gifted students, more than triple the national rate.

Duncan said he hoped administrators in other districts would ask how those schools had achieved their success, then follow suit. "There are some encouraging things in this data," he said. "Frankly, there are some very troubling things as well. But the only way forward is to know the truth."