Richard V. Reeves is the founder of the American Institute on Boys and Men (AIBM) and author of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Man Struggles, Why It Matters, and What We Should Do About It. She has been a long-time advocate for gender and gender equality. He says,
“There has been a successful campaign to get girls and women interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers. In contrast, the men-into-HEAL (Health, Education, Arts and Literacy) movement is virtually non-existent.”
He goes on to say,
“Getting a good estimate of how much is being spent in total to get more women into STEM jobs is impossible, not least because so many institutions are involved. But to give a concrete example, the Society of Women Engineers has a staff of 36 at headquarters, assets of about $19 million, and an annual expenditure of $12 million.’
For me, I was lucky to get into one of the health professions early. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara in 1965, I was accepted to the UC San Francisco School of Medicine and was awarded a four-year full-tuition scholarship to attend. I hoped to eventually become a psychiatrist and help men like my father who had a “nervous breakdown” when I was five after becoming increasingly depressed when he could not live to support his family.
Medicine was a predominantly male profession when I first entered medical school and there were few women in my class. But I quickly felt that what I was learning was too narrowly focused and lacked emotional engagement and sensitivity. I applied to transfer to the School of Social Work at UC Berkeley and was willing to give up my scholarship to take it. However, before I was allowed to leave, I had to see a psychiatrist. Apparently, a man dropping out of medical school for a career in social work was considered deviant, if not downright insane.
When I arrived, the other students at the social work school were mostly women, with only a few men. But I loved the environment and felt at home in a community dedicated to helping people mentally, emotionally and relationally. I also appreciated that we started helping people right away. My first year placement was in a juvenile detention unit. In my second year, I worked in a mental health unit. I earned my Master of Social Work degree in 1968 and have had a successful career ever since.
In Of boys and men, Reeves says,
“In general, HEAL occupations can be considered the opposite of STEM. They are more focused on people than things, and tend to require more literacy than numeracy skills.”
I have found this to be true. I was definitely better suited to the HEAL professions, and social work gave me experience with people that I never would have had if I had continued on to medical school.
Focusing on literacy has also helped me become a successful author with seventeen books under my belt, including international bestsellers Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: Overcoming Romantic and Sexual Addictions, Male Menopause, and The Irritable Man Syndrome: Understanding and Managing the 4 Root Causes of Depression and Aggression.
For the past few years I have been training men who are interested in men’s health as a profession. Reeves says,
“There has been a dramatic decline in the share of men in mental health-related care professions. Men make up the minority of social workers (18%) and psychologists (22%), for example, and the gender imbalance is growing.”
Yes, Boys Can: An Action Approach for Now and the Future
What should be done? Reeves offers a provocative proposition.
“As a society, we recognized the need to attract more women into STEM jobs and invested accordingly. Now the same goes for men and HEAL. I propose a national investment of at least $1 billion over the next decade in service of this goal. This money, both from government and charity, should be spent in three ways:
- Firstly, creating a pipeline of future male HEAL workers in schools and colleges.
- Second, providing financial support to male HEAL students and workers.
- Third, running social marketing campaigns to make these career options more attractive to boys and men.”
Reeves goes on to say,
“First, the pipeline. We need to get more boys and young men thinking about HEAL careers early.”
To that end, Reeves teamed up with Jonathan Juravich, the 2023 National Elementary Teacher of the Year, to create a masterful new book, Yes, Boys Can: Inspiring Stories of Men Who Changed the World.
I had the opportunity to interview Richard and Jonathan a recent podcast you can watch here. We discussed their work, the creation of the book and talked about some of the inspiring men working in the fields of Health, Education, Arts and Literacy.
You will find out which of the fifty interesting men in the book: social worker Preston Dyer and health nurse Sir Jonathan Elliott Asbridge.
As described in Yes, boys can
“Growing up, the only person Preston really saw helping other people was the pastor of his church. Preston liked the idea of helping others. it was what drove him. He was not enthusiastic about writing and preaching sermons for church services.”
It wasn’t easy, but Preston got into community service helping people with mental health needs. He struggled in school, but persevered. He and his wife, Ginny, started marriage enrichment classes and started helping more people. In short,
“Against all odds and obstacles, he ended up becoming one of the most influential social workers alive.”
Jonathan Elliott Asbridge was born in Cardiff, Wales.
“He had his first taste of nursing when he started working as a cadet with the St. Mary’s Ambulance Service. John in South Wales. He knew at a young age that he wanted to pursue nursing as a career, but his parents were less than enthusiastic and strongly opposed it. This was not the future they wanted for him.”
Many men are attracted to work in the HEAL professions, but are discouraged by others. Sometimes it’s family members who discourage us. Other times it’s teachers, friends, classmates, or the general sense we get from society that they’re not manly jobs.
But Jonathan didn’t give up. Jonathan attended nursing school and went on to university and began working in the field.
“Jonathan went from staff nurse to intensive care unit nurse, then inpatient director, general manager and director of Clinical Care Services. He eventually became director of nursing.
It didn’t stop there. Jonathan continued to work with further advocacy and professional development and was named as the inaugural chair of the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council.’
Since at least 1860, medals, decorations and appointments have been awarded to individuals on the King’s or Queen’s birthday. These recognitions celebrate the great works of citizens. As we learn in the book, “On June 17, 2006, Jonathan received such an honor. He was knighted for his dedication to the National Health System and the promotion of the nursing profession. Fortunately, his family’s reluctance regarding his career choice did not stop him from pursuing his dream.”
If you, or someone you care about, might be interested in HEAL occupations for men, I highly recommend Richard’s book, For Boys and Men: Why the Modern Man Struggles, Why It Matters, and What We Should Do About It’. I also recommend the new book, Yes, boys can! Inspirational stories of men who changed the world.
For more information about Richard’s work, visit him at the American Institute for Boys and Men: https://aibm.org/. You can also visit his website:
You can learn about Jonathan’s work here:
You can order Yes, boys can! From the publisher here:
or from wherever books are sold.
I regularly write articles on men’s mental, emotional and relational health. You can visit me here: and subscribe to my free weekly newsletter here: email-newsletter/
