Sharing experiences at our Empowering Boys’ Voices Conference 

Sharing experiences was a key theme at the Empowering Boys’ Voices Conference, which was organised by Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY).  

Held at Leeds Arts Gallery on 4 July, the conference aimed to increase knowledge in this area and foster collaboration with individuals from various educational settings as well as those working in Local Authorities, careers and other sectors, such as the charity sector. This diversity meant the conference was underpinned by sharing best practice with case studies from both GHWY and Higher Education Progression Partnership South Yorkshire (HeppSY). 

Sharing experiences 

The conference began with a welcome from Helen Sykes, Head of GHWY, who talked about our experience of collaborating to reduce inequity in Higher Education (HE). This collaboration is vital if we want to help boys progress to HE, if that is the right path for them.  

One of the keynotes was by Mark Roberts, author of Boys Don’t Try?; The Boy Question; and The Behaviour Whisperer. He brought together his own experience of working in schools with research in this area for an insightful session.  

Mark covered subjects such as the role of expectations. It is perceived that boys have low aspirations but in reality the issue may be one of low expectations or gendered expectations by teachers. That is, teachers may have different behaviour expectations for females vs males.  

The delegates were invited to share their experiences of intrinsic (internal) or extrinsic (external) motivation. Girls are more likely to be inherently intrinsically motivated, which leads to greater HE participation. 

Lived experience 

Another thing that struck me about the conference was how two of the speakers shared their own lived experience of being boys from working class backgrounds and finding school a challenge. Both speakers now work in HE and undertake research but recognise that it is not about coming in and telling education professionals what to do, but providing principles to guide them.  

Dr Andy Hamilton, Research Associate at Ulster University, talked about how the Taking Boys Seriously Principles came about and the importance of relational education. We also heard from Dr Alex Blower, Research Fellow: Social Justice and Applied Creative Research at Arts University Bournemouth, who spoke about the Boys Impact Hubs. For Alex, this is a personal endeavour, given his own experience of school being a challenge. 

Experience change and call to action 

I feel that the Boys Impact Hub represents a change in how GHWY and our stakeholders can best support Males on Free School Meals. The focus is less on what it means to be working class and having that conversation, and more on taking action to experience positive change.  

At the conference we heard from Helen Lord, Head of Greater Manchester Higher, who talked about establishing the Greater Manchester Boys Impact Hub.  

We also heard from James Rew, Access and Participation Manager at Leeds Conservatoire, who covered the impetus for why we changed from the GHWY White Working Class Males Network to GHWY Males on Free School Meals Network. As Co-Chair of this Network, James is interested to hear from those interested in supporting a new West Yorkshire Boys Impact Hub via this form. 

Conclusion 

Working in HE, it was interesting to hear from delegates in schools. I was particularly interested to hear about research that evidences how the educational inequity between males and females starts at an early age. If males are more strictly disciplined, it leads to them missing school and falling behind.  

It was also empowering to hear the challenge to the narrative that boys have low aspirations. In reality, the issue is that low expectations of boys may lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

 

Tahera Mayat, GHWY Collaborative Outreach Officer