Male Socialization in Jamaica and its impact on the gender imbalance at the level of tertiary education.

On average only 32% of students at the major tertiary education institutions in Jamaica, the University of the West Indies and the University of Technology are male according to the Labour Market Information System of Jamaica. These statistics also show that females now dominate areas that were once seen to be male dominated as the male enrolment rate continues to plummet. Even though males are seen in the Jamaican society occupying the vast majority of leadership positions, they are greatly out numbered by their female counterparts at the tertiary education level due to the negative influences of stereotypes, the lack of positive role models and rejection by the opposite sex.
The education of a typical male child in Jamaica is often overlooked, when compared to that of their sisters. Parents tend to focus more on the education of their daughters because girls are seen as vulnerable when compared to boys. According to Figueroa (2000), “Early childhood socialization prepares girls much better than boys for the type of schooling common in the Caribbean” (p. 70). This is because males and females are groomed differently in the homes and children are socialized differently based on their gender. It is suggested that males are given less exposure to simple tasks, which would better prepare them for entering the school system such as, responsibility, the ability to sit still, listen carefully, taking instructions & perform repetitive tasks. These skills are generally not instilled in the Jamaican male growing up (Figueroa 2004 p149). The general expectations is that a females are to be under more parental supervision and confined to the home with their whereabouts closely monitored compared to the male child that is allowed to do as they please once his household chores and errands are completed (Figueroa 2004, p148). The male child is generally left to fend for himself as it is expected that males are stronger than females.
Males are generally allowed to be more carefree than females and expected to “be boys” which typically means to roam the streets of their communities as they please with minimal responsibilities as to not be seen as effeminate males. It is not very “macho” for a boy to remain at home completing assignments instead of roaming the community with other boys. This stereotype of what is acceptable as male behaviour causes them to pay too little attention to their education and far too much attention on what other boys are doing. This focus on their peers causes young males to fall prey to negative role models & aspiring to become non-productive members of society.
It is very common in the Jamaican society for a typical household to lack a positive male role model for young men to look up to. When boys are expected to stay away from the home and roam the community as they please, under no parental supervision, they encounter men without any formal education, who have gained great success in their eyes because of apparent material wealth. Education will therefore not be seen as the most effective way to acquire wealth and power. Young men who graduate from university struggle to find jobs and only have a B.Sc. to show while less educated counterparts can show a BMW (Collins, 2007). The parents of this young man may belong to the working class with reasonable educational backgrounds but if their son almost always not in the home how will they have the opportunity to influence him? This shows that if a boy is to have values beneficial to society he must have some of the same restraints imposed upon girls. He cannot be allowed to make his own decisions because of a fear that he becomes labelled as effeminate or homosexual.
The media also plays a role in promoting negative role models by showing the “good life” as being involved in illegal activity rather than involved with obtaining a good education (Figueroa 2004). Hip-hop and dancehall artistes are among those that the media portray as the image of success showing young men that education is not all their parents make it out to be since some people “make it big” without it. Boys who look up to these successful yet uneducated men see that path as a better way to become successful and earn material wealth. Though it is more risky it takes a much longer time and greater effort to get an education. The desire for material gain without the great effort that an education requires is also prompted by members of the opposite sex and how they relate to boys of their own age group.
The goal of young men when trying to obtain material wealth is to attract females. This occurs when girls of their own age group in school with them date men who are much older but can provide them with an abundance of material things that boys of their own age simply cannot. According to Parry (1997) “girls want men to buy them presents and expensive meals” so where does this leave the young men of their age group? In high school, being rejected by their female counterparts for older men these boys are left to find ways in which they too can attract females by means of material things which leads them to fail educationally as they pursue other means of gaining this wealth. Young men, because of this are not given the same opportunities as girls to create sex/gender identities through heterosexual relationships (Parry 1997). This lack of relationships causes them to be forced to find other ways to prove they are “macho”/masculine and not homosexual. This “macho” behaviour is not compatible with the education system as studying and good grades fall into the effeminate behaviour category as outlined by various stereotypes of what a boy is supposed to do. The gender identity of a young man is also threatened by the lack of suitable role models in schools (Parry 1997).
The abundance of female teachers in schools leads to a lack of exposure to male role models as the teaching profession has been left for the most part to females as women tend to be more nurturing and involved in the development of students. According to Wilson (2007) the lack of males in the profession is also due to men leaving the profession to seek higher paying jobs. This desire of men to find higher paying jobs also ties into them trying to attract females by acquiring more material wealth than a teacher’s salary can afford them to when compared to their uneducated peers.
Males are underrepresented at the tertiary educations level because of several factors that contribute to their lack of interest in education system. To correct this negative view on education, the nation must first change its view on what is seen as non-masculine and homosexual behaviour versus a male genuinely interested in gaining an education and aspiring to be a productive member of society. Once these negative views of education are removed from the mind of a young man their choice of role models will change, encouraging them to further their education and achieve the successes of which they dream. The negative stereotypes of the typical Jamaican male, the lack of positive role models to aspire to and rejection by the opposite sex all contribute to the gender imbalance found in the tertiary institutions of the island nation.

References

Figueroa, M. (2000). Making Sense Of The Male Experience: The Case of Academic Underachievement in the English-speaking Caribbean. IDS Bulletin 31(2), 68-74.
Figueroa, M. (2004). Male Privileging and Male “Academic Underperformance” in Jamaica. In R. E. Reddock (Ed.), Interrogating Caribbean masculinities: theoretical and empirical analyses (pp. 137-166). Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press.
Labour Market Information System. (2011). Human Resource Development. Tertiary Graduates By Gender and Specialization. Retrieved from http://www.lmis.gov.jm/Graduates.aspx
Parry, O. (1997). ‘Schooling is fooling’: Why do Jamaican boys underachieve in school? Gender & Education, 9(2), 223
Wilson, C. (2007, October 28). The Economics Behind Gender Imbalance. The Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved from http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20071028/cleisure/cleisure5.html

References: Figueroa, M. (2000). Making Sense Of The Male Experience: The Case of Academic Underachievement in the English-speaking Caribbean. IDS Bulletin 31(2), 68-74. Figueroa, M. (2004). Male Privileging and Male “Academic Underperformance” in Jamaica. In R. E. Reddock (Ed.), Interrogating Caribbean masculinities: theoretical and empirical analyses (pp. 137-166). Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press. Labour Market Information System. (2011). Human Resource Development. Tertiary Graduates By Gender and Specialization. Retrieved from http://www.lmis.gov.jm/Graduates.aspx Parry, O. (1997). ‘Schooling is fooling’: Why do Jamaican boys underachieve in school? Gender & Education, 9(2), 223 Wilson, C. (2007, October 28). The Economics Behind Gender Imbalance. The Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved from http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20071028/cleisure/cleisure5.html