During Scott Galloway’s Nov. 3 appearance on TODAY, co-anchor Craig Melvin praised the author’s latest work, “Notes on Being a Man,” calling it “the best book I’ve read this year.”
Galloway, a professor and podcaster, examines the growing crisis among young men, who he says are struggling with purpose, connection, and identity.
He points to a striking set of statistics that reveal how far men have fallen behind. Nearly one in five men in their 30s still live with their parents, and 15% report having no close friends. Men are also four times more likely to die by suicide than women.
In education, the gender gap has flipped: women now earn almost two college degrees for every one earned by men.
“Seven in ten high school valedictorians are girls,” Galloway said on TODAY, noting that schools tend to reward behaviors like sitting still, following directions, and trying to please the teacher, which tend to come more naturally to many girls. Boys, he added, are more likely to get in trouble for the same behavior and often start to check out of school much earlier.
The problem, Galloway explained on TODAY, doesn’t end with education. Falling behind in school often snowballs into struggles with work, relationships, and self-worth.
“Men lose their role when they’re not economically viable,” he said, arguing that financial insecurity can make many men feel less desirable as partners.
That perception isn’t unfounded.
“Three-quarters of women say economic viability is key in a mate,” Galloway said.
He added that modern life has stripped away many of the spaces where men once found purpose or connection. Nearly 40 percent of bars and pubs have closed since the COVID-19 pandemic, and with fewer community spaces beyond home and work, Galloway says, many men are retreating further into screens.
Still, he insists that the crisis among young men isn’t hopeless, but it will take intention.
“We need to get more emotionally involved in a young man’s life. The single point of failure for a young man when he comes off the tracks is when he loses a male role model,” Galloway said. “Men my age have to step up. If we want better men, we have to be better men.”
