The short version
- Brede Hangeland believes the school is better suited for girls and encourages the government to recruit more men to work with children, young people and care.
- Hangeland is a member of the Men’s Committee, which put forward 35 proposals on Wednesday.
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The former national team captain comes from a macho environment as a long-time professional in the English top clubs Fulham and Crystal Palace.
At home, he is the father of three girls, player manager for the national team and an active member of the Men’s Committee, which presented its 35 proposals on Wednesday.
– Now I only have daughters myself. But I see a Norwegian school that hits the girls better than the boys. I think there are differences in how men and women meet children, says Hangeland to VG.
He believes the government must man up to hunt boys and men who have the talent and desire to work with children.
– Some boys like to rage a little. Many of them need more practical learning and physical activity. They probably also need more men who can reprimand them, but also be good role models, says the 199 centimeter tall native of Rogaland.
Hangeland is known for being above average socially engaged, he is a Labor Party member – and agreed to join the Men’s Committee.
– Why did you join?
– I am generally concerned that as many people as possible should have a good time, and like many others, I see that there are a number of boys and men who fall a little outside the community. That worries me, answers Hangeland.
Larger “boys’ room”
He adds that he would like to raise issues surrounding the boys and make the situation better for them.
– I think it’s nice to be allowed to contribute to that, says Hangeland after he has taken part on the podium in a debate with the members of the Men’s Committee.
The girl’s head start
- At the end of primary school – in the 10th grade, boys on average get lower grades than girls in all subjects except physical education.
- Boys are in the majority among those who receive a decision on special education in primary school.
- The gender differences in boys’ disadvantage in reading increase somewhat through primary school.
- In 2023, the girls performed on average 2.4 scale points higher in national tests than the girls.
- In 2023, 15.6 per cent of boys at secondary school were at the lowest mastery level in reading, while the proportion for girls was 9.2 per cent.
(Source: The Men’s Committee’s report “Equality’s next step”.)
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There, his message was that many boys’ room for action has become too narrow. And that it must become much more natural for them to enter jobs as nursery teachers, teachers and nurses.
– Why and how?
– It’s not like I think that all boys should now run off and become nurses. But what is an important point is that the scope for what a man can do in Norway today is slightly smaller than it is for women. The women may well stay at home, they may aim for a managerial job in business, or they may work in school or health.
– Whereas for us boys, there is a little more space for what is considered successful. And I think that we need to open up that space. Get it more in line with what should be the case – that career choice and how you spend your life is based on interest and competence – and not whether you are a woman or a man, answers Brede Hangeland.
Role model
He himself was probably a role model for boys and girls who could imagine becoming playing centre-backs in particular or footballers in general.
Hangeland was probably in a minority of English professional players with higher education behind them, and also such a role model.
– You think it is important to have male role models. Why?
– It is important because it gives recognition to the fact that men can be carers.
It is important to say it out loud, so that it is not so shrouded in our culture that work with care and upbringing – that is what women are best at, answers Hangeland.
Must meet more men
He believes that caring is still the domain of women.
– We have to get away from that. So that that room can open up more for boys and men, if they want to enter that room. I think it is important that boys in kindergarten and school have to meet more men.
The men’s committee writes in its report “Equality’s next step” that the authorities’ efforts to ensure that more young people make non-traditional choices in school and higher education have so far been poorly coordinated – with few and limited measures aimed at boys.
The committee, chaired by Claus Jervell and Brede Hangeland, believes that this effort must be strengthened significantly.
They also write that it is important to have more male role models, and that it is unfortunate that there is such a clear dominance of women in the professional groups that shape children and young people as they grow up.
