Experts have noticed that the proportion of the two gender at University are unequal. The percentage of girls admitted in University seems to increase over the last ten years while the number of boys is in decline which is alarming for society

Parents, teachers and fellow students are getting worried about the demographic of male trying to aim for professional studies. According to the University and Colleges admission services a drop of 22,000 male students enrolling in University has been observed in 2011-2012 and the “trend” could get worse.

A lot of factors cause the decline of male students :

One of them is that girls are trained since a very young age to act very calmly as their natural behavior.

“They are most likely to perform well in school because the expected attitude from the teacher is the one they are taught since birth” said Pascaline Lamarre, a study adviser at  Laval University.

There has been a controversy going on amoung specialists. Many think that the learning process is not appropriate for boys. During a school day, students are asked to be calm and sit down without being able to move which might not be the best.

“Boys and Girls have completely different needs when learning. While girls have an ease about settling down, boys have to be active” said Gilles Tremblay, director of the social science school at the Université Laval.

Another factor, if you haven’t notice, is that most teachers in primary school are girls. The Ministère de l’Éducation has made a study about the mather. In 2009 and 2010 only 22.3 % of primary teacher were of male. The presence of a male figure in the classroom helps primary male students realize that Languages, Arts and Music are just has equally appropriate for boys  than for girls.

Furthermore, the stereotype of “girly” subjects have a huge impact on the choice of a male’s course at university. Men are mostly likely to choose subjects such as computer science and engineering rather than teaching and nursing. Professional have a theory about boys not enrolling in certain subjects at university. Not having a male figure during primary school plays a big role in the fact that they are fearful of aming for feminine studies.

Speaking of masculine students, Thierry Kininga, a social science degree graduate at the Université Laval, says ” I’m getting used to work with a large female entourage. Most of my collegue are girls and so are the professors.”. Other students have the same opinion. It isn’t just a myth…

Alternatively, according to France Petitclerc, a studies agent at the Laval University, one of the biggest key player in child learning’s process are parents. In her opinion, mother and/or father should take their responsibilities as a parents. For example, going to the reunions and talking to the teachers that are around their child might help the parents understand  the reasons why their  kid are failing a subject or having behavior difficult .

“Parents have a support role to play toward their child’s teachers. Even if the parents aren’t completely agreeing with them, you may go and talk out the problem with the professor but never say anything negative about them in front of your kid.” she said.

One thing for sure, the problem of not having enough male student in our school system is far from being resolved. Experts are afraid of the long term repercussions on the development of our society.

(writtten by Mélodie Boisvert, edited by Catherine Drapeau)