On October 6â7, the AAPSS hosted an authorsâ conference in partnership with the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM). Contributors to a forthcoming volume of The ANNALS, tentatively titled Educating Boys: Bridging Gaps, Building Futures, gathered in Philadelphia to present draft papers to each other and to guest editors Richard V. Reeves, Pedro Noguera, and Ioakim Boutakidis.
(Photo by Jessica Erfer)
Amid current challenges in male educational attainment, widening gender disparities and increasing economic challenges, this volume will add to scholarship on boysâ education, a field where research has typically been fragmented across disciplines or limited to specific developmental stages. As a whole, the contributorsâ papers aim to diagnose systemic issues in boysâ education, explore the underlying mechanisms behind them, and identify actionable strategies for intervention.
Contributors to the discussion included Marianne Bertrand, Michael Gurian, Shaun Doughterty, Michael Reichert, and Sean Kullman. The forthcoming volume will include articles by experts in developmental psychology, education, sociology, medicine, economics, and more.
(Photo by Jessica Erfer)
(Photo by Jessica Erfer)
Tom Kecskemethy, The ANNALSâ executive editor, attended the conference. âItâs always striking to see how conversations evolve when groups as interdisciplinary as this one caucus on a single subject,â he observed. âComing face-to-face with what we donât know about boysâ education and spending time thinking through more effective strategies for intervention made me anxious to get these papers in hand. We are very much looking forward to getting this volume published and in circulation.â
(Photo by Jessica Erfer)
The AAPSS thanks all of the attendees for their participation and the AIBM for their help in cohosting this conference. The volume is expected to publish in spring 2026.
