I think part of the problem is that boys are told that they can use women as rolemodels. I mean, if a girl uses her dad as rolemodel, no one bat an eyelid. It is considered normal that women use men as rolemodels at work or in other areas of life.

But for some reason, it is considered that a boy shouldn't use a woman, even a very succesful one at his career path or any other area of life as a model. But if you have a mother who is great at personal relationships, why is she not a rolemodel for personal relationships? And if the lead at your job is a woman, why can't a young man learn from her?

The fact is that part of the struggle boys find is not because they don't have male role models, but because those male role models are telling them that they shouldn't use women rolemodels. So they end with half the people to learn from. That puts them at a disadvantage.

And considering that historically, skill sets used to be gendered, that might mean that they end not having a round up set of skills needed to survive/succed.

I would even say that some of those "strong male role models" are the ones who learned from women too.

After all, how many times a mother's advice on dating is dismissed if it is not the same men are given? And yet, she might have an insight on women's preferences that men doesn't. How many times young men listen to dating gurus while ignoring what their female friends are saying? Even when following the advice by the dating guru is not really improving their dating life, they won't even consider giving a shot to their female friend's advice. What do women know, right?

Well, there are historical men who grow up surrounded by women and become sucessful by learning from those women. and some of those men have become role models.

So if the one doing well at academics in your family is a woman, take her as a rolemodel for that. And if the one who is more nurturing is a man, also learn from him. And learn from all the people who are around you. That way, regardless of gender, you would never lack from strong role models.

After all, maybe instead of trying to copy some "good male role model", you might want to define what is a good male role model yourself by learning from everyone and becoming one. Just saying.