GENDER EQUITY AND THE BOYS DEBATE - WHAT SORT OF CHALLENGE IS IT

Recently public and policy discussions about gender equity have become strongly concerned with boys. This article discusses some aspects of the form, the context and the implications of these developments in Au stralia (and notes some points of similarly and difference with develo pments in the UK). It focuses on three main areas: the ways examinatio n and other 'indicators' have been used in public policy constructions of gender inequality; secondly, the issue of what types of reforms co nstitute gender equity as a project; and thirdly the issue of research agendas and the entry of masculinity to gender research.