The last forty years have seen tremendous, much needed progress for ‘Women in STEM’; as fearsome female scientists, engineers, and mathematicians, are made superheroes of society, and lifted upon a pedestal to inspire young women and girls. The job is not yet done, but it has clearly worked, with women in stem doubling in forty years. However there is another set of superheroes, male ones, no less inspiring, who are silently fighting their own fight too. Men in classrooms and early years teaching. Men in therapy spaces, and within psychology. Those in social work, welfare, and councelling; or activism, the charity sector, or healthcare. These men face their own unique challenges, and their quiet abence from these spaces is felt by all of us. Would more male therapists, get more men into therapy? Would more male teachers, keep more boys in school? Could more male substance abuse councillors, help break more male addictions? Or more male abuse caseworkers, help see more abused men? I don’t know. For those few men who silently work in these fields, should we not give the same societal applause that serenades our “women in STEM”? I mean, if there are twice as many women flying fighter jets in the military, as there are men teaching children in Kindergarten, does that mean the men in these spaces, surrounded by books, toys, and toddlers, are twice the hero? Is that man in a classroom any less inspiring to boys, than that woman in a jet cockpit, is to girls? I don’t think so. So where are these men? Could they be the role models we need? And why are we not talking about them? ~ AIBM  Men’s Dropout From Mental Health Services: Results From a Survey of Australian Men Across the Life Span #mensmentalhealth #stem #womeninstem

2025-02-07