Finally, Heckman addressed policy questions in the United States regarding the optimum time to provide intervention, opining the following: Investment in the early lives of children in disadvantaged families will help close achievement gaps. America currently relies too much on schools and adolescent remediation strategies to solve problems that start in the preschool years. Policy should prevent rather than remediate. Voluntary, culturally sensitive support for parenting is a politically and economically palatable strategy that addresses problems common to all racial and ethnic groups. (James J. Heckman, ―The American Family in Black and White: A Post-Racial Strategy for Improving Skills to Promote Equality,‖ IZA DP No. 5495, February 2011, p. 2.) http://ftp.iza.org/dp5495.pdf
5. What about the guys? According to the 2010 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, females 18 years and older have earned more bachelor‘s degrees than males, with rounded totals of 21,528,000 to 19,762,000. Furthermore, women‘s 4-year degree attainment exceeds men‘s in every 5-year age category until 60-64. Women have also earned more associate‘s degrees (occupational and academic) and master‘s degrees; it is not until the level of professional and doctoral degrees that male totals exceed those of females. (All Races, Table 1. Educational Attainment
of the Population 18 Years and Over, by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 2010, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.) http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/2010/tables.html
The 2010 Met Life Teacher Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive in the fall of 2010 on a national sample ―. . . of middle and high school teachers, students, parents of public school students, and business executives from Fortune 1000 companies . . . .‖ indicated a gender gap regarding students‘ desire to access college; indeed, the Survey found the following: In high school, a gender gap in college expectations emerges that does not exist in middle school. [emphasis in original] In middle school, seven in ten girls (73%) and boys (72%) plan to get at least a bachelor‘s degree. However, in high school, the number of girls planning to get a college degree increases to 83%, while the number of boys planning to get a college degree remains the same as the middle school number. (The Met Life Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers, Part 1: Clearing the Path, Fall 2010, p. 9.) http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/contributions/foundation/americanteacher/MetLife_Teacher_Survey_2010.pdf
A Time article by David Von Drehle discussed the performance of boys in the U.S.; the author indicated lower male performance, as related to college access and success. As he put it: ―Meanwhile, fewer boys than girls take the SAT. Fewer boys than girls apply to college. Fewer boys than girls, in annual 120