More role models needed: both in literacy and tech

Reetta Heiskanen
Jul 22, 2017 · 2 min read

According to OECD, years of effort by the member countries to end disadvantage against girls in the education system has resulted in a situation where girls are more likely to complete secondary education than boys and more women than men graduate from college. A new concern has risen: something needs to be done to help the boys.

This is reality especially in Finland. Even if Finland scores very high on the PISA-results, the gap between girls and boys in literacy is alarming.

In fact, in reading assessments, Finnish girls outperformed the boys by 62 points, the largest gap of any country and twice that of the US. Girls scored 556 and boys 494, according to an analysis by Tom Loveless at the Brookings Institution Brown Center on Education Policy.

According to journalist Jenny Anderson, one of the main reasons can be cultural: boys are pushed to sports and non-literary activities, which are considered feminine. Strong role models could nudge more boys toward literacy.

William G. Brozo, a professor of literacy at George Mason University, has done research on how to boost boys motivation to read and increase their achievement in school and set them on a path of lifelong literacy. According to Brozo, literacy prevents exclusion from the society — especially in the case of young men.

Where are the role models?

This is a similar problem compared to the one that has been discussed in the technology industry for a while now. Where are all the strong role models for girls who want to become engineers and programmers?

I find this lack of role models both in literacy and tech alarming. In Britain, a shocking number of children leave primary school unable to read properly. We should try to see past the feminine/masculine side of things and provide new role models for the youth.

Fashion blogger and founder of Rookie Mag, Tavi Gevinson states in her TED talk that as a 15-year-old, she had a hard time finding strong female, teenage role models.

“What makes a strong female character is a character who has weaknesses, who has flaws, who is maybe not immediately likable, but eventually relatable”, she says.

I highly recommend her interesting talk on the topic.

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