Alexander Witpas

Criminologist, sexologist, working in public health policy, with a particular interest in boys and men. All views my own. Retweet is not endorsement.

[TheTinMen @TheTinMenBlog]

Boys are behind at every level of education, in every area, at every age, and in every country in the west, with a few small exceptions.

You might be reading this for the first time, but this is not a new thing.

In fact, boys have been quietly falling further and further behind girls for more than 35 years, and now, are even further behind in education than women were 50 years ago.

Yet, if we ever do hear this discussed, it’s only to suggest that ‘boys need to try harder’.

But that is not the problem.

Boys are trying, the problem is, the way school educates and grades children, systemically discriminates against them.

We saw this when the UK cancelled exams during COVID, with the so-called ‘girl bonus’.

Where girls that were performing equally well to boys, now through the lens of teacher assessments, suddenly rocketed ahead.

We saw the same when we transitioned from the objective exams of O-levels, to the subjective assessments of GCSEs.

And we saw it again, when the OECD documented the same teacher bias across more than 60 countries, stating the gap “had little to do with ability”.

Yes, it’s true.

Teachers (of both sexes) are biased against boys, and until that changes, nothing else will.

So – who will dare talk about systemic sexism against boys?

What do you think?

~
Talking with Big Bros podcast https://t.co/khUUdp2NAP

Education gap data
https://t.co/zvDgX9yHSA

[Alexander Witpas @alexanderwitpas]

Jongeren stemmen niet rechtser vanwege manosfeer: 'Verbaasd over ophef' https://t.co/k3lF0KzpEZ via @NUnl

[Alexander Witpas @alexanderwitpas]

"Results indicated that mothers spanked more than fathers. (...)When examining both parents concurrently, only mothers’ spanking was predictive of child aggression."https://t.co/Fbpg5YJzOd

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

Thank you to the News Corporation papers and journalists Darcy Fitzgerald, Susie O'Brien, Lauren Novak, and Will Paige for publishing a three-part series of articles on what it’s like being an Aussie boy in 2026, starting today with educating boys...

For too long, the struggles of boys and young men have been minimised, caricatured, or simply ignored. So it matters when major national media outlets take a serious look at the realities facing boys across education, parenting, culture, and online life.

The data are confronting. Boys lag girls across most educational indicators, are more likely to be suspended or expelled, more likely to be identified with disability or behavioural issues, more likely to disengage from school, and far less likely to commence university. Yet the simplistic story that boys are somehow “dumber, naughtier or more broken” does not withstand scrutiny.

Importantly, these articles move beyond blame. They explore biological and developmental differences, school culture, teaching approaches, student voices, and practical pathways forward. They ask a crucial question: are we designing educational environments that genuinely work for boys, or expecting boys to conform to systems that often struggle to accommodate how many of them learn, behave, and develop?

The reporting also touches on difficult but necessary debates: the role of ideology in schooling, the changing landscape of single-sex and co-educational education, and what different models may mean for boys’ outcomes and wellbeing.

This conversation is overdue.

Caring about boys does not mean caring less about girls. It means recognising that our sons, brothers, students, nephews, and young men are precious too; and that persistent educational disparities deserve the same seriousness, compassion, and evidence-based response that we would rightly demand for any other group.

Australia needs more honest discussion, better research, male-positive and evidence-based reforms, and a willingness to listen to educators, parents, experts, and to boys themselves...

I look forward to the next two instalments: raising boys and the impact of influencers. If we want healthier, more capable, more grounded young men, then these are conversations our country needs to have.

Boys in crisis: How Australia’s school system can lift up our young men – instead of dragging them down
https://t.co/HWTi7v5xaS

Single-sex schooling is in decline as parents and new schools alike go co-ed – but what do their academic results reveal?
https://t.co/AwnLUVF1kJ

Education system becoming ‘pipeline of indoctrination’, new book warns
https://t.co/bhTKbuk4I5

[Lisa Britton @LisaBritton]

Although you can argue that the higher rates of abuse is due to mothers being around their children more, it is wild that the assumption is that fathers are far more likely to abuse their children when it’s just not true. I believe the misguided beliefs in society about who can be perpetrators puts children in danger, and more awareness to break the wrong beliefs should be a top priority.

[Alexander Witpas @alexanderwitpas]

"Results demonstrated that the majority of assessed risk factors were related to perpetrating future child maltreatment for both fathers and mothers. In general, risk factors were more prevalent in mothers than in fathers." https://t.co/J1KKVIjF8L

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

Notes on Being A Man by Scott Galloway has been a remarkable success: commercially, culturally, and in its ability to capture attention. And that matters. In a public conversation where boys and men are too often ignored, caricatured, or treated as an embarrassment, Scott Galloway has used his platform, communication skills, and blunt style to force these issues into the mainstream.

The book is concise, personal, and accessible. Drawing on his own life, career, failures, fatherhood, and observations of modern society, Galloway speaks directly to young men about purpose, discipline, relationships, work, health, and meaning. He deserves credit for articulating what many people can see but few are willing to say publicly: too many boys and men are drifting, disconnected, underperforming, and struggling to find a clear path into adulthood.

In many respects, Galloway nails the diagnosis. He understands the economic, educational, technological, and cultural headwinds facing young men. He is particularly effective at explaining why so many males feel alienated, lonely, or left behind.

But diagnosis isn't the same as prescription.

Where the book is strongest in identifying problems, it's weaker in setting out robust, evidence-based solutions. The recommended responses can feel individualised, motivational, and somewhat thin relative to the scale and complexity of the challenges being described. Personal responsibility matters enormously, but institutions, policy, education systems, family structures, and cultural narratives matter too.

A second criticism concerns influence versus achievements. Galloway has generated huge numbers of eyeballs and valuable public attention. Yet compared with leaders such as Richard Reeves and Mark Brooks, there is less of the painstaking policy development, evidence synthesis, institutional reform work, and practical architecture for change...

That's not to diminish his contribution. Powerful communicators are essential. But the next phase of this journey requires not only compelling diagnosis and viral reach, but also deeper scholarship, durable frameworks, and tangible pathways toward better outcomes for boys and men.

Even so, Notes on Being A Man is worth reading; especially because it has helped legitimise a conversation that desperately needs wider engagement...

@profgalloway

[TheTinMen @TheTinMenBlog]

Anyone else find it ironic how so much of the left talk about the "class gap" in eduction (which is about 7.2%).

Yet, the gap between boys and girls is nearly twice as large (13%), and those same people say precisely nothing.

[Centre for Male Psychology @CentreMalePsych]

1/2

Are there cultural differences in how men experience mental health problems?

Anthropologist Paul Capobianco finds a fascinating mix of similarities and differences in the types of mental health issues men face, and how they deal with these issues.

[Full text in comments]

[TheTinMen @TheTinMenBlog]

"The Manosphere" is the shadow of society's failure to talk positively about men and boys.

All you're doing here is making it worse; doubling down on this failure, with the same vilification and erasure.

If you want to find those responsible, start by looking in the mirror.

[Alexander Witpas @alexanderwitpas]

@CathyYoung63 I tried reading one of his books, but I put it down after 80 pages because it was so tedious and self-centred.

[Quillette @Quillette]

Grace Tame went from Australian of the Year fighting child sexual abuse and championing women’s rights to leading “globalise the intifada” chants at pro-Gaza rallies and branding Israel a “fascist rogue state.”

This is a textbook example of how young women are being radicalised into ideological extremism, something Quillette has documented over a decade.

[Nancy Pearcey @NancyRPearcey]

Teachers Are Hard-Wired To Give Girls Better Grades, Study Says

"Teachers give higher grades to girls than to boys with the same academic ability, according to a study published today in the British Journal of Sociology of Education.

And the bias is evident across different types of schools and for different teacher characteristics, suggesting teachers are hard-wired to give girls higher marks.

The size of the gap is considerable and could have significant long-term consequences, both on college admission and employment prospects, the researchers say.

“There is a strong correlation between having higher grades and desirable educational outcomes, such as gaining admission to good colleges or having a lower probability of dropping out of school,” says researcher Ilaria Lievore, at Italy’s University of Trento.

“Consequently, higher grades are also correlated with other outcomes, such as having higher earnings, a better job or even higher life satisfaction.”

The gender gap is a common feature of education systems around the world. In standardized tests, girls tend to outperform boys in humanities, languages and reading skills, while boys tend to do better in math, but when grades are awarded by teachers, girls do better in all subjects."

--Forbes

[Steve Stewart-Williams @SteveStuWill]

A new paper argues that reducing the size of the human population would have close to zero effect on climate change.

https://t.co/TBKUYXXBIv

[Rolf Degen @DegenRolf]

Even small sex differences in personality and cognition, when taken together, make it possible to distinguish between men and women with high accuracy.
It has repeatedly been shown that most psychological sex differences are small, with largely overlapping distributions. This study examined whether multiple small sex differences—across cognitive performance, personality traits, and interests—can collectively distinguish between males and females and predict real-life outcomes. Participants (n=2767) completed online tests and questionnaires that assessed cognitive performance, personality, and interest in people and in things.
Results showed sex differences across 13 tasks and questionnaires in the expected directions. Importantly, when combined, these measures correctly predicted whether an individual was male or female in 80% of cases. We found reliable sex differences in all tested domains, with the majority being small, two of medium magnitude (spatial abilities), and one large effect size (interest in things).
Can an 80% classification accuracy in predicting an individual’s sex be considered high? For context, structural MRI scans—when controlling for head size—achieve about 60% accuracy. This suggests that our result is relatively strong. Importantly, even after excluding the three tasks with the largest observed sex differences (i.e., interest in things, mental rotation, and line angle judgment), the model maintained a relatively high classification accuracy of 71%.
This underscores the notion that many small differences can collectively create a large effect. Could the accuracy be improved further? Yes. For instance, predictors that are strongly and directly tied to sex, such as sexual attraction (i.e., the sex one is attracted to) or body morphology), could substantially improve predictive accuracy.
These findings demonstrate how multiple small individual differences can collectively yield substantial predictive power, offering new insight into the underpinnings of gender differences in society. Specifically, we found that these psychological characteristics were meaningfully associated with the degree of gender segregation in the individual’s occupational choices.

[Dr John Barry @MalePsychology]

@men_are_human Lets hope some actual genuine awareness is raised this year. Too often people raise half-baked theories about men's mental health e.g. that masculinity is bad for it https://t.co/fgUbc3g5Ja

[Alexander Witpas @alexanderwitpas]

@MalePsychology Women, as a group, experience more loneliness than men. And if their emotional literacy is such a great advantage, why do they score worse than men on anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm… and just about every other indicator of mental well-being?

[Femme @FemCondition]

"73% of men who experienced female-perpetrated violence reported that their partner threatened to make false accusations versus less than 3% of males in the general population. Among men who experience female-perpetrated violence, 56% said their female partners actually did make false accusations that he physically or sexually abused her."

False allegations are a tool for abusive women, and we need to understand this. Abused men need protection.

https://t.co/Gvo3yISMc7

[James L. Nuzzo, PhD @JamesLNuzzo]

Gender and Capital Punishment in Texas
"we see across more than 14,000 capital case prosecutions in Texas that the gender of the prosecutor, victim, and defendant all were consequential. Male prosectors sought more death sentences than female prosecutors. Female victims were more likely to have a death sentence sought in their cases than male victims. Male defendants were more likely to have a death sentence sought against them than female defendants."

Findings:
"male prosecutors sought a death sentence in almost 39% of their cases, while female prosecutors sought a death sentence in just under 23% of their cases"

"Death sentences were sought against almost 38% of male defendants in capital cases compared to 27% of female defendants"

"Death sentences were sought in nearly 42% of cases with female victims compared to 34% of cases with male victims"

[Alexander Witpas @alexanderwitpas]

@DorianB112 Unfortunately, your ability to remain disciplined and consistent (‘conscientiousness’, one of the Big Five personality traits) is strongly influenced by your genetic makeup.