Obviously a lot more wrong, but fixing that would go a huge way on its own.
Can this partially explain the change?
University or college isn't easy even for the nerdiest of us. I don't know how it's now but it used to be that straight-A students out of high school could easily turn into C average, all-nighter-pulling neurotics by fourth year university. Now you have the C students pressured into post-secondary study.
At home, I can just about guarantee active outdoor time has plummeted in the last 3ish decades, and kids come to school in whatever state home's left them. I'd further bet less work happens around the house than in earlier decades, outside of actual paid WFH stuff (which is mostly screen shit)—working on cars, mending clothes, caring for chickens or other livestock, that sort of thing, so kids are exposed to and participate in less of it.
I dunno if any of those are contributing to this, but it's not like we've held everything the same and just watched boys' achievement fall in isolation.
Fixing that is nontrivial, but it goes from "hard" to "impossible", when so many people start it with "The problem is women".
I am not sure that is fair. The system was designed for women like software was designed for men. Which is to say that the people doing the work bring their own gender experiences and biases which cannot be separated from the design, and as educators are overwhelmingly female that's what you're going to get.
It is not like there is some kind of supervillain sitting in their lair, tenting his fingers, saying "School will be only for women! Muhuhahaha." Indeed, it makes for a great conspiracy theory when you can think that people could actually be that well organized, but back down to reality you really just have a large number of clueless people bumbling around doing the best they can, but the best they can is certainly biased – we all do it.
> Fixing that is nontrivial
The biggest thing is, who cares? Sitting here in what the OECD identifies as the most educated place on earth, and regarded as having one of the highest quality education systems around, I am really not sure what we have gained from it. Once those students become adults they don't seem to amount to much. We don't stand out on the world stage and in many ways lag behind. This is like trying to fix a dam across a canyon that is completely dry. You might be able to fix it, but take a step back...
> but it goes from "hard" to "impossible", when so many people start it with "The problem is women".
The double standard is quite interesting. 5-10 years ago when the software industry was identified as not serving women amid the overwhelming presence of men "The problem is men" was quite ever-present. In return, we got "Oh shit, they're right! We'd better do something to fix this." And, while perhaps there is more work to do, it is undeniable that great strides have been made.