What can a better understanding of teachers engagement with masculinity, mental health and the manosphere in the school classroom offer to widening access?

Dr Alex Blower and Dr Jon Rainford,  Boys Impact

Inequalities in educational outcomes for young men from low socioeconomic backgrounds are a key concern for access practitioners. Department for Education data shows that in 2022/23, less than 17% of White British and White and Black Caribbean young men who were eligible for Free School Meals progressed into higher education by the age of 19. However, the reasons for these low levels of progression are complex, which is why these issues endure and therefore, a deeper understanding of the experiences in education of these young men is essential.

Boys Impact has launched the first of a series of reports exploring teachers’ perceptions of young men. This report tackles an important issue – how teachers engage with masculinity and the manosphere in the classroom. These issues, brought into the media eye through Adolescence in particular, highlight the growing concerns surrounding the influence of social media and the content creators aligned with the manosphere on boys and young men.  This is the first significant national study of teacher perceptions of young men in over 20 years. The data is comprised of a national survey and focus groups with teachers and young men. The survey gathered data from 467 educators working in a range of different settings across the UK. These initial findings were further explored through focus groups with 40 young men aged 12-16 and 17 teachers in three secondary schools in the South West of England.  Across all three data sets, issues of masculinity and how it is talked about in schools were discussed in depth.

The report identifies several key issues that educators face related to conversations surrounding masculinity and supporting mental health.  Whilst conversations about masculinity were seen to be important by most teachers, with over 90% of the respondents being conscious of the need to challenge male stereotypes, 40% felt they did not have the time and space to do this. The survey also suggests that whilst promoting positive mental health was seen as important for young men, the ability to create spaces to support young men’s mental health was not always possible.

When asked to give examples of conversations related to masculinity, there was a real dichotomy between deep, engaged and critical discussion and those who were unable to identify a specific conversation. A third of the respondents talked more generally about challenging misogynistic attitudes and behaviour or managing behaviour instead. Given the lack of time and space they felt they had in school, especially in some curriculum areas, this was unsurprising.  The way in which this was perceived by young men in the focus groups was that the teachers were unwilling to engage on these issues and felt their discussions were shut down, leading to their voices feeling devalued.

One of the reasons the social media content of the manosphere and its creators is so enticing is that it plays into this sense of being devalued and overlooked. If this perception is being reinforced in schools, then it is likely to push young men more towards that messaging. Having a valued voice is also important in feeling able to engage in the classroom and may also play a role in GCSE attainment which in 2023/24 which shows that in England just 24% of males who were eligible for FSM attained a grade 9-5 in GCSE Maths and English, compared with 43% who were not.

This new data from our survey demonstrates that teachers, whilst understanding the importance of these conversations surrounding masculinity and mental health, are not always afforded the time and space to have these conversations. This is where working in partnership with schools may be able to create spaces where these issues can be tackled, something Boys Impact hubs have been doing over the past few years.

Within individual university and uniconnect outreach offers, there is also scope to consider how to create spaces for these conversations and to support young men to discuss these issues critically with curiosity and reflection. Being able to create spaces which are unconstrained by curricula or existing power relationships, outreach practitioners may be well positioned to create spaces to help young men critically engage with issues relating to masculinity, societal expectations and stereotypes.

The full report can be downloaded from here.