I think that men falling behind is the other side of the coin. I mean, when my brother was in highschool he said he didn't wanted to go to college because he didn't like to study and could make good money as a construction worker. That was true. My father told him that he should go to college and study, because he could become a construction worker with a degree, but couldn't do other jobs without the degree. Thankfully he followed my father advice because we had a crisis and many construction workers ended being unemployed but by that time my brother has a better paid job. This anecdotal story illustrates that might have happened to many young men now.

They see many dropouts and non college men being successful and think that they can do the same. Have blue collar jobs or creating a startup or becoming influencers. But only a handful of people succeed at that. And by choosing the easiest route, they close themselves from other opportunities. In a nutshell, they are blaming feminist for following false dreams sold to them by other men. Many times the very same men who can be described as "conservatives". So instead to adapting to change (as in learning new skills and applying to different jobs) they want the world to go back in time and for women to stay home as housewives while they are offered blue collar well paid jobs like their parents used to have.

But economy has changed, so that is not really possible. Even if women choose to stay home, the blue collar jobs are fewer. While we do have a need for other jobs. So the best we could do is teach boys that they need to adapt and change too. That they aren't better but that they don't need to limit themselves to "manly jobs". That in fact, men are valued in the "caring" jobs. Hell, the few of them that go into those fields are promoted easily. So fathers that blame feminism instead of telling their boys that they should learn, study and value all kinds of skills are dropping the ball. Boys need domestic skills and emotional intelligence as much as they need technical skills. By insisting that those things are not "manly" we do them a disservice and cripple their future opportunities. We do need independent men as much as we need independent women. And we need that people learn how to live as respectful partners.

But I agree that boys not going to college is not a problem, it is another symptom of toxic masculinity. And girls going to college at higher rates is the way girls try to compensate for their lack of opportunities in other areas. Since they know they would be discriminated against, they work harder to compensate for that. No big surprise that they are getting better results now.