Many have discussed the rapid decline in trust and esteem for institutions of higher education. Most settle on the fact that it is a problem of their own making. This is true: exorbitant prices, activism, suppression of speech, and discrimination in admissions. These are all problems created from within. So is the guiding ideology that views masculinity as toxic.
As Helen Andrews has pointed out, the damaging effects of wokeness coincide with the increased presence of women in institutional leadership. Universities were once factories of progress—not to be mistaken with progressive—led by innovative risk-takers. Today, they operate more as re-education camps designed to stamp out any hint of masculinity, labeling it as toxic. The feminization of higher education is an ideological takeover that has declared war on the characteristics of the “alpha male,” letting intellectual curiosity and excellence melt in the acid bath of cancel culture.
Look at the numbers, because they don’t lie even if the administrators do.
Women now dominate college enrollment, graduate programs, and entire fields like psychology, education, and the humanities. Recent reports show that female representation in college leadership has also increased steadily. Meanwhile, the share of men on campus has dropped precipitously. Men now account for roughly 41 to 44 percent of U.S. undergraduates, down from an even split in the 1970s. Fewer men are enrolling in college, and those who do enroll are more likely to drop out. This shift is generally celebrated, and any area where women make up less than 50 percent is often treated as a problem to be solved. Why aren’t there more female university presidents?, activists bemoan. Instead, we should be asking what to do about the missing men.