This was the way it was in poor and working class schools I attended in decades past. Those males who worked on their education were considered to be evading their responsibility, by the girls. (Worse by the boys) At age 16, it was expected by most of the girls that a guy would quit, get a job at the nearby plant (plentiful then) get a car and be ready for procreation ASAP. Many times I heard teachers bemoan the fact that someone would quit with only weeks to go to complete a grade.

I was a middle class kid stuck in an alternate universe. My Mother couldn't understand the problems I faced, getting an education.