You're fast becoming my favourite person to comment and disagree with - in this particular instance though I think we're in full agreement. I've questioned a similar thing here. https://medium.com/p/87534d382171 - a total lack of voices at the conscription of men at the start of the Ukraine conflict. It's such an ingrained idea that people don't question it - and when you do question it (as I did) you get some fairly interesting responses.

From an entirely objective point of view and in utter psychopathic mode, women are more valuable than men from a 'keeping the species alive' front. You need only keep two or three men around and you're good to go - men are expendable and war has demonstrated this time and time again. Children are a different matter - they're small and vulnerable, provide very little benefit. From a survival point of view, I'd bin off all male children and any girl not on the cusp of puberty and potential child rearing. You can't say the Penguin apocalypse plan isn't brutal and efficient.

I also read that same study you've quoted here and wrote about the Women and Children First rule - it was an interesting paper. https://medium.com/p/30670af1950