school success by gender a catalyst for the masculinist discourse

School Success by Gender:

A Catalyst for the Masculinist Discourse

Pierrette Bouchard, Isabelle Boily and

Marie-Claude Proulx

The research and publication of this study were funded by Status of Women Canada’s Policy
Research Fund of Status of Women Canada. This document expresses the views of the authors
and does not necessarily represent the official policy of Status of Women Canada or the
Government of Canada.

March 2003

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National Library of Canada cataloguing in publication data

Bouchard, Pierrette, 1950-

School success by gender [electronic resource] : catalyst for the masculinist discourse

Issued also in French under title: La réussite scolaire comparée selon le sexe.
Includes bibliographical references.
Issued by Policy Research.
Issued also in print format.

ISBN 0-662-33402-7

Cat. no. SW21-103/2003E-IN

1. Academic achievement – Sex differences.
2. Sex differences in education.
3. Sex differences – Press coverage.
4. Sex discrimination in education.
5. Men – Social conditions.
6. Women – Social conditions.

I. Boily, Isabelle.

II. Proulx, Marie-Claude.

III. Canada. Status of Women Canada.

IV. Canada. Status of Women Canada. Policy Research.

V. Title.

LC212.9B68 2003

305’.3

C2003-980028-8

Project Manager: Vesna Radulovic and Jo Anne de Lepper, Status of Women Canada
Publishing Coordinator: Cathy Hallessey, Status of Women Canada
Editing & Layout: PMF Editorial Services Inc. / PMF Services de rédaction inc.
Translation: Société Gamma
Comparative Read: Kathe Lieber
Translation Coordinator: Monique Lefebvre, Status of Women Canada
Translation Quality Control: William Hart

For more information, please contact:

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Status of Women Canada
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Telephone: (613) 995-7835
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E-mail: research@swc-cfc.gc.ca

ABSTRACT

This research investigates the advocacy discourse focussing on boys and men during the
decade between 1990 and 2000, as reported in the Canadian and international press. Our
objective is to explain the dynamics of this discourse, using the school drop-out theme,
which is our field of research, in order to identify other themes that authors link together:
suicide, child custody, violence perpetrated by women, etc. The research is based on articles
published in Canadian, French, American and Australian daily newspapers and mass-
circulation Canadian magazines. The analysis reveals an ideology that questions women’s
rights and discredits feminism.

In this context, the report makes recommendations on the issue of gendered school success.
It is important to dispel the social perception that boys are the only ones having trouble in
school. To this end, we recommend that new initiatives be introduced and existing measures
reinforced to encourage girls to keep working hard in school. Resource allocation needs to
take into account the barriers girls continue to face, and measures must be maintained to
encourage them to take an interest in up-and-coming professions and demarginalize such
choices for those who dare to make them. As a result of the new issues raised by masculinists,
we make a number of general recommendations for protecting the gains that women have
made. In particular, we stress the urgency for women to “take ownership” of the Internet.
There is also a need to ensure closer monitoring of hate-mongering sites to determine whether
legal action should be taken. It is important as well to disseminate egalitarian messages and to
support studies that provide a context for problems, such as alleged violence by women.