Boy troubles are international

One point that Richard Whitmire over on "Why Boys Fail" (which recently moved to Education Week's website) always brings up, is that the "boy troubles" are actually an international phenomenon. Other countries have actually tried to address the problem, but the US ignores it.

Today, Phyllis Chesler posted four photographs from Cairo University, showing the graduating classes for 1959, 1978, 1995, and 2004. She posted them to show that in the 50's not one woman was wearing a hijab, in the 1978 photo one or two women are, but by the 2004 photo, all but one or two are.

I looked at something else in the pictures: the ratio of men to women. Here are the photos, with circles around the male and female heads (Click on photos to enlarge):

1959--> Men=68 (65%), Women: 36 (35%):


1978--> Men=39 (34%), Women: 74 (66%):


1995--> Men: 36 (35%), Women: 81 (78%):


2004--> Men: 19 (17%), Women: 91 (83%):


Most of the shift seemed to be over by 1978, with women reversing their percentage in 20 years. Since then, they've held on and increased their advantage: up to 83% in 2004.

Update: Got a link to this from Richard Whitmire. Thanks!