Masculinity and Student Success in Higher Education


Book Description

This practical resource identifies complex issues associated with masculinity in higher education, providing administrators and faculty with research-based strategies for supporting the success of this student group. Grounded in interdisciplinary social science theories and representative case studies, this book unpacks the experience of college men while simultaneously addressing the various identities they embrace or are assigned. Masculinity and Student Success in Higher Education shares strategies on increasing enrollment, engagement, and persistence of men in higher education across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic distinctions. By successfully interrogating their own campus practices, readers can better address issues of diversity while also supporting and engaging the social and academic factors that contribute to student success.




Black Men in Higher Education


Book Description

Black Men in Higher Education bridges theory to practice in order to better prepare practitioners in their efforts to increase the success of Black male students in colleges and universities. In this comprehensive but manageable text, leading researchers J. Luke Wood and Robert T. Palmer highlight the current status of Black men in higher education and review relevant research literature and theory on their experiences in various postsecondary education contexts. The authors also provide and contextualize innovative, actionable strategies and solutions to help institutions increase the participation and success of Black male college students. The most recent addition to the Key Issues on Diverse College Students series, this volume is a valuable resource for student affairs and higher education professionals to better serve Black men in higher education.




The Handbook of Research on Black Males


Book Description

Drawing from the work of top researchers in various fields, The Handbook of Research on Black Males explores the nuanced and multifaceted phenomena known as the black male. Simultaneously hyper-visible and invisible, black males around the globe are being investigated now more than ever before; however, many of the well-meaning responses regarding media attention paid to black males are not well informed by research. Additionally, not all black males are the same, and each of them have varying strengths and challenges, making one-size-fits-all perspectives unproductive. This text, which acts as a comprehensive tool that can serve as a resource to articulate and argue for policy change, suggest educational improvements, and advocate judicial reform, fills a large void. The contributors, from multidisciplinary backgrounds, focus on history, research trends, health, education, criminal and social justice, hip-hop, and programs and initiatives. This volume has the potential to influence the field of research on black males as well as improve lives for a population that is often the most celebrated in the media and simultaneously the least socially valued.




Advancing Black Male Student Success from Preschool Through Ph. D


Book Description

Advancing Black Male Student Success From Preschool Through Ph. D. pushes against hopeless notions of Black male student achievement. This book presents a comprehensive portrait of Black male students at every stage in the U.S. education system, from preschool through doctoral degree attainment. Each chapter is a synthesis of existing research on experiences, educational outcomes, and persistent inequities at a particular pipeline point and concludes with forward-thinking recommendations for education policy and practice. In addition to Harper and Wood, the authorship cast includes several scholars who are among the most respected experts on Black boys and men in education.




Defining Student Success


Book Description

The key to success, our culture tells us, is a combination of talent and hard work. Why then, do high schools that supposedly subscribe to this view send students to college at such dramatically different rates? Why do students from one school succeed while students from another struggle? To the usual answer—an imbalance in resources—this book adds a far more subtle and complicated explanation. Defining Student Success shows how different schools foster dissimilar and sometimes conflicting ideas about what it takes to succeed—ideas that do more to preserve the status quo than to promote upward mobility. Lisa Nunn’s study of three public high schools reveals how students’ beliefs about their own success are shaped by their particular school environment and reinforced by curriculum and teaching practices. While American culture broadly defines success as a product of hard work or talent (at school, intelligence is the talent that matters most), Nunn shows that each school refines and adapts this American cultural wisdom in its own distinct way—reflecting the sensibilities and concerns of the people who inhabit each school. While one school fosters the belief that effort is all it takes to succeed, another fosters the belief that hard work will only get you so far because you have to be smart enough to master course concepts. Ultimately, Nunn argues that these school-level adaptations of cultural ideas about success become invisible advantages and disadvantages for students’ college-going futures. Some schools’ definitions of success match seamlessly with elite college admissions’ definition of the ideal college applicant, while others more closely align with the expectations of middle or low-tier institutions of higher education. With its insights into the transmission of ideas of success from society to school to student, this provocative work should prompt a reevaluation of the culture of secondary education. Only with a thorough understanding of this process will we ever find more consistent means of inculcating success, by any measure.




College Men and Masculinities


Book Description

COLLEGE MEN AND MASCULINITIES is a comprehensive handbook that offers a compilation of the best classic and contemporary research on male students in higher education. The editors, Shaun R. Harper and Frank Harris III two experts in the field of men and masculinities frame each of the six sections of the book with a summary of issues and implications for educational practice. Each section also includes a wealth of forward-thinking strategies and suggestions that faculty and institutional leaders can creatively employ on their campuses to reverse problematic trends and outcomes among male undergraduates. With contributions from leading scholars in education, sociology, psychology, and other disciplines, College Men and Masculinities explores the following issues in depth: Identity development and gender socialization Sexualities and sexual orientations Destructive behaviors (judicial offenses, alcohol abuse, and violence) Health and wellness College men of color College men and sports This vital resource will help educators and administrators address the alarming trends and issues that arise from identity-related challenges among boys and college men. "What a valuable resource! This book includes some of the most influential research and theory on all aspects of collegiate masculinity from sports to spirituality, hazing to hook-ups, and alcohol to assault. Always sensitive to how different groups of men experience college life, Harper and Harris's book will surely become the touchstone text for those who work with or study college men." Michael Kimmel, author of Manhood in America and professor of sociology, Stony Brook University "Essential reading for all who care about gender equity, this book advances the conversation about men in college at the critical nexus of identity development, culture, and relationship, enabling faculty and student affairs administrators to build more thoughtful and challenging educational environments for men from diverse populations." Susan Marine, Women's Center director and assistant dean for student life, Harvard University This book offers educators and administrators much-needed guidance for understanding and effectively meeting the developmental, academic, and social needs of undergraduate men." Chauncey Smith, undergraduate student leader, Morehouse College




Boys Don't Try? Rethinking Masculinity in Schools


Book Description

There is a significant problem in our schools: too many boys are struggling. The list of things to concern teachers is long. Disappointing academic results, a lack of interest in studying, higher exclusion rates, increasing mental health issues, sexist attitudes, an inability to express emotions.... Traditional ideas about masculinity are having a negative impact, not only on males, but females too. In this ground-breaking book, Matt Pinkett and Mark Roberts argue that schools must rethink their efforts to get boys back on track. Boys Don’t Try? examines the research around key topics such as anxiety and achievement, behaviour and bullying, schoolwork and self-esteem. It encourages the reader to reflect on how they define masculinity and consider what we want for boys in our schools. Offering practical quick wins, as well as long-term strategies to help boys become happier and achieve greater academic success, the book: offers ways to avoid problematic behaviour by boys and tips to help teachers address poor behaviour when it happens highlights key areas of pastoral care that need to be recognised by schools exposes how popular approaches to "engaging" boys are actually misguided and damaging details how issues like disadvantage, relationships, violence, peer pressure, and pornography affect boys’ perceptions of masculinity and how teachers can challenge these. With an easy-to-navigate three-part structure for each chapter, setting out the stories, key research, and practical solutions, this is essential reading for all classroom teachers and school leaders who are keen to ensure male students enjoy the same success as girls.




The Company He Keeps


Book Description

Tracing the full history of traditionally white college fraternities in America from their days in antebellum all-male schools to the sprawling modern-day college campus, Nicholas Syrett reveals how fraternity brothers have defined masculinity over the course of their 180-year history. Based on extensive research at twelve different schools and analyzing at least twenty national fraternities, The Company He Keeps explores many factors--such as class, religiosity, race, sexuality, athleticism, intelligence, and recklessness--that have contributed to particular versions of fraternal masculinity at different times. Syrett demonstrates the ways that fraternity brothers' masculinity has had consequences for other students on campus as well, emphasizing the exclusion of different groups of classmates and the sexual exploitation of female college students.




Masculinity in the Making


Book Description

Contemporary society has imposed a set of unrealistic and confusing rules for men over 18 to follow. With post-adolescent men experiencing lower rates of academic success at the post-secondary level and escalating rates of violence perpetrated by this age group, jobs, careers and life itself are in crisis. These men in transition have emotional, social, academic, and career struggles that affect every aspect of their lives. Masculinity in the Making: Managing the Transition to Manhood; therefore, will examine these issues and offer strategies and examples of what is possible for the post-adolescent male; more specifically, attention will be paid to theories and health issues specific to this population, social and cultural issues, academic and career interventions, aggression and violence, and media portrayals. The reader will be left with a deep and clear understanding of the needs of men as well as how mentoring and counseling can provide them with the support needed to be successful and productive members of society.




The Brother Code


Book Description

The Brother Code: What is the role of manhood and masculinity in the lives of African American males in college? How do manhood norms influence decisions within and beyond college? How might mothers and fathers differentially affect manhood and masculinity in their sons? What are African American’s men unique ways of knowing themselves and their surroundings? The Brother Code: Manhood and Masculinity among African American Men in College situates itself at the intersection of higher education and cultural studies to address these questions and more. Primarily, this book offers colleges and universities a penetrative gaze into a complex web of identities—the manhood of African American males in college. Yet the book also seizes a rare opportunity in higher education research to review six historical eras of African American manhood as well as the troublesome relationship between African American males and education in general. This knowledge is important for understanding all aspects of African American male participation in college, including enrollment, retention, curricular, and co-curricular involvement. Based on an empirical study, the data in this book emerged from one-on-one interviews in which 24 African American males enrolled in 12 colleges discussed how manhood matters in their social and college lives. The aim is to help unearth the marginalized topics of manhood, gender, and masculinity in males generally but, more specifically among African American males, a marginalized student group in education. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the book draws upon literature in history, African American studies, gender studies, sociology, cultural studies, psychology, and anthropology.