Richard Reeves

Keep doing the work for women and girls.

But if we think there's an issue with boys in education, let's ask ourselves whether it's okay that the share of male teachers has dropped by 10 percentage points from 33% to 23%.

Let's look at what the trouble the boys are having in literacy and start to interrogate that.

Make sure you've got the data on gender gaps in your school.

And also, let's not pathologize.

what's happening with boys and men.

I think that the rise of the term toxic masculinity in 2016, I didn't really realize it at the time, but I come to believe that was a really, really unfortunate development because it sort of pathologized it.

It meant that the whole conversation about boys and men was done in this deficit way.

And so be curious, be open, and let's not start with this presumption that it's the problems of boys and men are the problems with boys and men, right?

They just tried hard.

and picked up their socks and didn't complain and went to therapy, that they'd be fine.

It's very odd to me sometimes that progressives are still quite happy to individualize the problems of boys and men in a way that they wouldn't for other groups.

And then actually let's look to some solutions like breaking down gender stereotypes around roles like education.

We put huge effort into getting more women into male professions and it's not mission accomplished yet, but women in STEM, women into law and medicine and so on has been a huge push.

It's been great.

Where's the equivalent push for men in education and health care?

So the point simply is to get to that point in the conversation where we agree it's a problem.

We're going to tackle it.

It doesn't mean doing less for women and girls.

We're going to try and find stuff that works.