This report aims to build understanding of boys, boyhoods and masculinities in the UK.

From education and achievement to mental health and well-being to violence and aggression, the ‘state of boys’ has long been a feature of UK (and global) educational, societal and political debate. Against this backdrop, a raft of evidence-based research has not only contested the notion of a singular ‘state’ of boys, but also complicated the category of ‘boy’ and, therefore, what it means to be a boy today.

Discourses about toxic and ‘backlash’ masculinities have also become increasingly prominent in popular culture in recent years, both in the UK and other Western countries – including #MeToo and debates about incel culture. Popular discourses on more positive masculinities are less salient, but nonetheless growing in prominence – including around the changing role of fathers. Understanding the multiple ways that boys, boyhoods, and masculinities are constructed and produced in contemporary societies, and how these relate to other gender formations, is fundamental if we are to support and respond meaningfully to the diverse experiences of boys.