Working Class Masculinities In Australian Higher Education

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 book explores how boys from low-socioeconomic status backgrounds disengage from their education, and are resultantly severely underrepresented in post-compulsory education. For those who attend university, many will be first-in-their-family. As first-in-family students, they may encounter significant barriers which may limit their participation in university life and their acquisition of social and cultural capital. Drawing on a longitudinal study of young Australian men pursuing higher education, the book provides the first detailed account of socially mobile working-class masculinities. Investigating the experiences of these young men, this book analyses their acclimatisation to new learning environments as well as their changing subjectivities. The monograph draws on various sociological theories to analyse empirical data and make practical recommendations which will drive innovation in widening participation initiatives internationally. This book will be of interest to scholars interested in widening participation, transitions, social mobility and Critical Studies of Men and Masculinities.

This edited book provides international insights and recommendations around topics of gender and diversity in higher education linking to larger societal goals of improving equality. Within each of the four sections – Student recruitment and retention, Student experience, Faculty and staff experiences and culture, and Higher education cultures of teaching and research – topics unpack and speak to gender and diversity, equity, inclusion and access, social justice, and leadership and sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs). Incorporating innovative processes and methods, the researchers address how the experiences of groups who have been subordinated and marginalized can be heard, proposing a re-imagination of empowerment and leadership within higher education and best practices for the benefit of ongoing higher education development. This book is ideal reading for higher education leaders, students on higher education courses, leadership courses, gender in education, as well as researchers, practitioners, for topics of gender and diversity, equity, inclusion and access, social justice, leadership and sustainability in HEIs.

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.

Despite efforts to widen participation, first-in-family students, as an equity group, remain severely under-represented in higher education internationally. This book explores and analyses the gendered and classed subjectivities of 48 Australian students in the First-in-Family Project serving as a fresh perspective to the study of youth in transition. Drawing on liminality to provide theoretical insight, the authors focus on how they engage in multiple overlapping and mutually informing transitions into and from higher education, the family, service work, and so forth. While studies of class disadvantage and widening participation in HE remains robust, there is considerably less work addressing the gendered experiences of first-in-family students.

This collection investigates the ways in which boys and young men negotiate neoliberal discourse surrounding aspiration and how neoliberalism shapes their identities. Expanding the field of masculinity studies in education, the contributors offer international comparisons of different subgroups of boys and young men in primary, secondary and university settings. A cross-sectional analysis of race, gender, and class theory is employed to illuminate the role of aspiration in shaping boys’ identities, which adds nuance to their complex "identity work" in neoliberal times.

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.

This book explores the unique set of challenges faced by mature-age male undergraduates as they adapt to university study. The authors examine the motivations of mature male students for enrolling in higher education and their aspirations for life after graduation, in doing so filling a crucial gap in the current literature. Later access to higher education carries numerous benefits, including improved social mobility: it is therefore paramount to understand why men tend to be underrepresented among mature students. Exploring the intersections of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, culture and gender, and paying careful attention to the stories of the students themselves, the authors provide a thought-provoking analysis of an underrepresented student group. The book will be of interest and value to students and scholars of mature-age male students, and aspirations and motivations within higher education more generally.