Rhetorical analysis on Where the Guys Are: Males in Higher Education

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Rhetorical analysis on Where the Guys Are: Males in Higher Education
In Where the Guys Are: Males in Higher Education, Marcus B Heaver Hightower argues that it is vital to look beyond popular opinion in the press based on figures on enrollment in higher education. By focusing on the situation of male enrolment in higher education, the author seems to advocate for more research on education matters with more emphasis on male students. In addition, the author clearly identifies the problems associated with underrepresentation and graduation of male students in comparison to female students. The author seeks to highlight on the need to engage more males in the education system, for there to be success in recruitment and retention of male students in higher education. Consequently, Hightower uses observation, questions, facts and statistics to lay emphasis on the view point that there is a need for more male enrollment and engagement in institutions of higher learning.
Even though, the article begins by acknowledging that one school administrator admitted to favoring boys in admissions, there is a disparity in the numbers enrolling and graduating from universities for both males and females. The mass media is a significant source of information, but the author goes beyond this debate on ‘crisis of boy education’ by focusing on the actual experiences of male in schools. Though he acknowledges the disproportionate high number of female students at the university level this does not capture the whole picture “But in comparing males to females, we sometimes get the impression that boys and men are doing worse than they did before or—a much more insidious and baseless notion (30).”
Hightower further asserts that it is necessary to look at specifics and not simply quoting the enrollment rates for both genders. Thus, the author observes that though there are disparities in the numbers, the number of males attending college has risen over time, while those of women have simply risen faster. Another observation is that the socio economic profile of the population determines the enrollment rates. According to the American Council on Education, in 2003 2004 male students at the lowest social classes were only 44% while male students in the upper classes were more than their female counterparts at 52 % (Hightower 30). The author further observes that elimination of many sports programs has been associated with a fall in male enrollment in schools that scale back on sporting activities.
Hightower also results to using questions to lay emphasis on views in subheadings. In “How are they doing” the author introduces readers on the current enrollment rates and status of the two genders in higher education. “ Beyond enrollment’” is a further development on the other question, which advocates for a more holistic interpretation of enrollment rates and graduation rates especially on why females tend to succeed more than their male counterparts. In “Where are the guys,” the writer seeks to ask and answer the question what goes on when men do not attend college, but also seeks to highlight on the role of low literacy rates and culture among men with regards to higher education.
Hightower also uses facts and statistics to highlight on the underrepresentation and underachievement of men in colleges. For instance the writer points out that “Men are thus much more likely to have dropped out of college,” (Hightower 31). Other factual issues emphasize that men succeed less in their engagement with regards to school work, but men are likely to suffer from stress and depressive mood s than their female counterparts desp...