The Platteville Journal became the first newspaper or media source to break the story on a solution to the STEM and boys’ crisis in Wisconsin and the nation by printing an op-ed piece in the paper’s April 30 edition written by advocates seeking to change school grading and higher education admissions biases.
Julie Coates and William Draves are associated with two national organizations seeking to change the grading bias in schools and admissions bias in higher education.
“Boys are a minority of college graduates now, but are 80% of college educated STEM workers,” said Coates. “The resulting economic crisis is real. We do not have enough STEM graduates for the economy of this century.”
“UW-Platteville is a university that should be thriving given America’s well known need for STEM graduates, but enrollment is declining,” Draves added. “Colleges, including Wisconsin colleges, are closing at a rate of one per week now because of drops in male enrollment.”
The Platteville Journal’s acceptance of the Coates-Draves op-ed was the first coverage of a solution proposing to eliminate gender bias in school grading and in college admissions.
Coates is senior vice president of the Learning Resources Network (LERN) and Draves is president of LERN. They have studied the issue for 25 years, given seminars around the state and nation, and written three books addressing the subject of grading discrimination and admissions bias.
Coates and Draves are also on the advisory board of another national organization, The Boys’ Initiative, seeking to change state legislation to eliminate gender bias in college admissions and produce more economic prosperity.
For more information, reach Draves via email at draves@lern.org.
