Male Underachievement in High School Education : In Jamaica, Bar

The growing regional and international concerns about the educational performance of males reflect a broader social anxiety about the plight of men in general and black men in particular. This concern has culminated in the "marginalized male" thesis, which has gained considerable academic attention and popular support in the media. In addressing the issue of male underachievement, the book challenges the popularly held assumption that boys fail because girls achieve. Rather than blaming Caribbean females for male underachievement, the book locates male educational performance in the historical context of Caribbean gender relationships, and structural constraints on the development of Caribbean gender identities. UNICEF and the Institute of Social and Economic Research funded the research on gender and Caribbean high school achievement upon which this book is based. Odette Parry and her colleagues conducted extensive in-depth interviews and participant observation research at schools in Jamaica, Barbados, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

After providing the research background and acknowledging the effect of the interviewers' cultural differences, Parry discusses key findings in the areas of gender expectations, verbal discipline, male role models, co-education versus single-sex schools, gender socialization, and sex/gender identity development. These findings have important implications for the future of our children and the region.