About Boys’ Impact

Boys’ Impact brings together educational practitioners from across the UK. Established in 2023, the network takes an evidence-based approach to addressing the gap in GCSE outcomes for young men who are eligible for Free School Meals.

We undertake strategic activity in research, pedagogy, policy and practice to support the outcomes of young men in their local educational, social, and geographic contexts.

Boys’ Impact was founded by its Director, Dr Alex Blower.

Alex is an author, researcher and global thought leader on issues related to masculinity, inequality and education. Since completing his doctoral research which focused inequality and access to university for white working-class boys in the West Midlands in 2020, he has been a keynote speaker at national and international conferences, talking on issues related to inequality and the experience of young working-class men in education.

In 2025, he was invited to join the MenCare Changemaker network, a global initiative to mobilise 100 leading influencers from around the world from business, the media, culture, civil society, and government to find solutions to critical challenges related to men, boys, and masculinities.  Regularly commenting on issues related to masculinity and inequality in education for media outlets such as the BBC, LBC and The Times, his first monograph, Lost Boys: How Education is Failing Young Working-Class Men, was released last year.

Our research

  • Foregrounds the voices of young men who experience the sharp edges of inequality. We provide a mechanism for their experiences to be seen, heard, and responded to through innovation in educational policy and practice.

  • Creates an evidence-based understanding of what constitutes effective practice with young men who experience marginalisation in education.

  • Builds a deeper, richer understanding of the relationship of young men to educational and social systems and structures which perpetuate gender-based inequality and harm.

Our practice

  • Convenes, bringing together those engaged in educational research, policy and practice to engage with the issues.

  • Equips educators with greater knowledge and understanding surrounding the experiences of young men in education, and what can be done to better support their educational outcomes and progression.

  • Champions the experiences of young men, contesting deficit-driven discourses.

  • Establishes an infrastructure which connects local action to a UK-wide movement for change.

Meet the Steering Group

  • Mike Nicholson

    FOUNDER, PROGRESSIVE MASCULINITY

  • Susan Morgan

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, TAKING BOYS SERIOUSLY

  • Sophie Blyth-Bristow

    SEXUAL VIOLENCE RESPONSE AND PREVENTION MANAGER, UNIVERSITY OF YORK

  • Dr Craig Johnston

    SENIOR LECTURER (CRIMINOLOGY), THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND

  • Deneen Kenchington

    DEPUTY HEADTEACHER, FERNDOWN UPPER SCHOOL

  • Rae Tooth

    FOUNDER, INCLUSION REVOLUTION

  • Tian Barratt

    WIDENING PARTICIPATION OUTREACH MANAGER, UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH

  • Dr Andrew Hamilton

    RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, TAKING BOYS SERIOUSLY