Masculinities In Higher Education

Masculinities in Higher Education provides empirical evidence, theoretical support, and developmental interventions for educators working with college men both in and out of the classroom. The critical philosophical perspective of the text challenges the status-quo and offers theoretically sound educational strategies to successfully promote men’s learning and development. Contesting dominant discourses about men and masculinities and binary notions of privilege and oppression, the contributors examine the development and identity of men in higher education today. This edited collection analyzes the nuances of lived identities, intersections between identities, ways in which individuals participate in co-constructing identities, and in turn how these identities influence culture. Masculinities in Higher Education is a unique resource for graduate students and professional post-secondary educators looking for strategies to effectively promote college men’s learning and development.

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

There continues to be much concern about the retention and persistent of men in college, particularly Black, Latinx, and Native American men. In addition, queer and trans* men also have found institutions to be problematic spaces. For those who do persist, we know that men are overrepresented in student conduct cases and engage in risky behaviors around alcohol, drug use, and sexual relationships. Additionally, we know that college men have historically avoided engaging in help-seeking behaviors for their academic and personal success. This book addresses the ways that theory can be put into practice for powerful, transformative learning to support college men and their development.This book synthesizes the research of the past three decades on college men to inform college student educators on the developmental needs of college men and illuminates how young men are socialized prior to their arrival to campus, but perhaps more importantly, how the collegiate environment becomes a training ground for the socialization of masculinities by students, their peers, and their environments.Beyond that, it sets out how practitioners can help young men understand why and how they have been socialized around their gender identity, but also what their gender identity and sense of masculinity means for their future selves. The book highlights programs and services designed to have college men engage with and dialogue around issues of hegemonic, toxic, or unhealthy aspects of masculinity. These promising practices can offer college men opportunities to understand their power, privilege, and identity in ways that can be affirming and healthier, leading to more life-giving chances. This is all the more important in the context of an ever-evolving society where traditionally held norms and expectations around gender--particularly masculinities--are shifting. This book equips student affairs staff, faculty, and administrators to better support college men’s development. It offers readers insights, ideas, and models for adapting and developing programs, services, and initiatives that may meaningfully meet the needs of specific student populations, while recognizing that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to this work.

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.

Across media, academy and popular culture in western societies there is much talk of an implosion of the modern gender order. Education is often presented as a key site in which a crisis of masculinity is played out, and schools have become a focus for practical attempts to reconcile social and cultural transformations through the recalibration of teaching and learning, increasing male teachers and masculinising the content of subjects. Education and Masculinities argues that we are experiencing a shift from the establishment of the social constitution of gender associated with modernity politics, to the gendering of society that has an intensified resonance among men and women in a global-based late modernity. The book explores the main social and cultural approaches to education and masculinities within the broader context of sex and gender relations, considering the masculinity question alongside local and global changes in society, and bringing a fresh evaluation of key issues. Included in the book: -how the suggestion of ‘academically successful girls’ and ‘failing boys’ plays out in relation to issues of inequality across class and ethnicity -a current empirical analyses of gender inequality across schools, higher education and the labour market -representation, identity and cultural difference with reference to male and female social experiences and cultural meanings -forms of power connected to social divisions and cultural differences. Education and Masculinities provides a critical yet constructive diagnosis of gender relations across educational sites, exploring both academic accounts and alternative global responses that illustrate the limits of Western models and sensibilities.This accessible book will be valuable reading for students following courses in education, sociology, gender studies, and other social sciences and humanities courses.

This book takes a critical view of masculinities through an investigation of first-in-family males transitioning to higher education. Drawing on six in-depth longitudinal case studies, the focus is on how young men from working-class backgrounds engage with complex social inequalities, as well as the various capitals they draw upon to ensure their success. Through the longitudinal approach, the work problematises the rhetoric of ‘poverty of aspirations’ and foregrounds how class and gender influence the lives and futures of these young men. The book demonstrates how the aspirations of these young men are influenced by a complex interplay between race/ethnicity, religion, masculinity and social class. Finally, the book draws connections between the lived experiences of the participants and the implications for policy and practice in higher education. Drawn from a larger research project, each case study compels the reader to think critically regarding masculinities in relation to social practices, institutional arrangements and cultural ideologies. This is essential reading for those interested in widening participation in higher education, gender theory/masculinities, longitudinal research and social justice.

This new interdisciplinary reader is one of the only texts that explores men and masculinity issues within a distinctly Canadian context. Featuring sixteen original essays by leading scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this fascinating volume analyzes the many ways in which men andmasculine gender roles have been constructed and depicted within Canadian society. Organized into three thematic sections, the text examines topics such as popular culture, sports, immigration, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and other dimensions of identity, while considering whether'Canadian masculinity' is particularly unique. Current and comprehensive, Canadian Perspectives on Men and Masculinities is essential reading for understanding the multifaceted and ever-evolving male experience in Canada.

Highly Commended in the Society of Educational Studies Book Prize This book explores how economic changes and the growing importance of educational qualifications in a shrinking labour market, particularly effects marginalized young men. It follows a group of young working-class men in a de-industrial community and challenges commonly held representations that often appear in the media and in policy discourses which portray them as feckless, out of control, educational failures and lacking aspiration. Ward argues that for a group of young men in a community of social and economic deprivation, expectations and transitions to adulthood are framed through the industrial legacy of geographically and historically shaped class and gender codes. These codes have an impact on what it means to be a man and what behaviour is deemed acceptable and what is not.