Dear Editor,

“What’s happening to our boys?” is a question often asked. A more urgent one may be: In our justified effort to empower girls, are we unintentionally neglecting boys?

Recent research, including a 2025 study by Nicholas A Wright on gender gaps in Jamaican education confirms that girls continue to outperform boys in external examinations, as well as in tertiary enrolment and completion rates. Similar disparities are evident at the primary level. These patterns are no longer anecdotal; they are measurable and persistent.

While much of the discussion focuses on school performance, the roots of the problem often begin at home. Boys growing up without consistent paternal engagement frequently navigate identity crises and societal expectations with limited male guidance. Research consistently shows that active father involvement and positive male role models are associated with improved academic and social outcomes. Where such support is absent, boys may struggle to internalise the long-term value of education.

At the same time, our national discourse has, understandably, emphasised girls’ empowerment. For decades, women faced structural barriers that limited access to education, leadership, and economic mobility. Efforts to correct those injustices including targeted scholarships, women-only organisations, and leadership initiatives have produced meaningful progress. However, equity must remain dynamic.

When interventions become disproportionately concentrated in one direction, unintended consequences can emerge. Boys, particularly those from single-parent or resource-constrained households, may feel increasingly peripheral to the educational success narrative.

Sociologist Dr Herbert Gayle from The University of the West Indies has observed that many boys are socialised to prioritise early income generation over sustained academic pursuit. In economically vulnerable families, sons are often steered toward immediate employment or vocational pathways. There is nothing inherently wrong with the trades, since they are vital to national development. The concern arises when gendered expectations systematically channel boys away from academic attainment before they can fully evaluate their options.

Cultural messaging reinforces this divergence. Girls are frequently encouraged to “tek up yuh book and nuh think bout man”, and communities often rally to support their academic focus. Comparable affirmations directed at boys are less visible. Instead, early notions of manhood may centre on peer validation, leisure, or financial contribution. Over time, this shapes educational disengagement. The broader social implications are even more significant. Educational divergence can complicate family dynamics, widen economic disparities, and perpetuate cycles of fatherlessness that affect future generations. A society cannot thrive when one gender consistently underperforms compared to the other.

This is not a call to reverse gains in women’s advancement. Those gains are necessary and must be preserved. Rather, it is a call for balance. Gender equity should not mean shifting disadvantage from one group to another; it should mean ensuring that both boys and girls are intentionally supported. Addressing this imbalance requires deliberate investment in male mentorship programmes, structured father-engagement initiatives, and scholarship opportunities that recognise the vulnerabilities of disadvantaged boys. Schools and communities must also cultivate narratives that affirm academic excellence as integral to responsible manhood.

If we are serious about national development, we cannot afford to frame educational disparity as a women’s issue alone. We must ask whether our collective systems like family, community, school, and government are sufficiently attentive to the developmental needs of boys. True equity demands that neither sex be left behind.

Giovannie H Rowe

Educator

Giovannie.HRowe@my.trident.edu