Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (BOLLI)

Women's Roles Are Changing for the Better. Men Are Being Left Behind.

Course Number

SOC4-5b-Mon2

Study Group Leader (SGL)

Linda Shapiro

Location

This course will take place in person at 60 Turner Street. The room will be equipped with a HEPA air purifier.

5-Week Course

April 21 - May 19

Description

As girls and women make strides in education and employment, boys and men are falling behind at an alarming rate. Young women complete high school in the usual four years at a frequency higher (88 %) than young men (82 %). Women outnumber men at institutions of higher education, while at the same time unemployment in males is 4.2% compared to 3.9% in  females. Life expectancy in women in the United States is also longer than for males. Men are ahead only in their rates of suicide!

In this course we will examine some of the underlying causes of these discouraging statistics.  Using the book Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves, we will explore how biology, culture, issues of race and socio-economic class, as well as family dynamics and politics have impacted boys and men in modern society. Even though the issues above may not apply to every individual male, it affects all of us. We will then use what we have learned to look at ways to deal with the issues these findings suggest without turning back the clock on the advances made by women and girls.

Group Leadership Style

More facilitated discussion than lecture.

Course Materials

The required text will be Of Boys and Men, by Richard V. Reeves: Brookings Institution, 2022. The book will be supplemented by journal, magazine, and newspaper articles as well as podcasts.

Preparation Time

One to two hours per week.

Biography

Linda Shapiro has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Harvard University. She has raised three children and has worked as a therapist and in schools for many years. Her teaching experience includes 10 years of teaching graduate students, as well as teaching at the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement and BOLLI.