Our Project MALES faculty affiliates Dr. Beth Bukoski and Dr. Deryl Hatch have recently published the article “We’re Still Here … We’re Not Giving Up”: Black and Latino Men’s Narratives of Transition to Community College. Their study examined masculinity in a manner commensurate with established feminist frameworks to deconstruct a patriarchal system that ill-serves both men and women.
The authors utilized standpoint theory and narrative analysis to examine longitudinal, qualitative data from first-year Black and Latino males as they transition into community college through their second semester. Their findings showed that positionality is critical to understanding the success of Black and Latino males and their response to institutional structures. In many instances, men leveraged normative constructions of masculinity as aids to their success, and their resilience and confidence were filtered through their perceived development into adults.
Their study concludes with implications for practice including the creation of spaces for men to talk about what it means to be a man in college and ways to influence men to make the most of resources when proffered, even if they tend to avoid seeking them out on their own. The authors suggest that further research should seek to understand how men develop and evolve their concepts of masculinity as well as how and to what extent spaces for men actually work to dismantle hegemonic masculinity.
Our Project MALES team would like to congratulate you on the important work you continue to do on behalf of male students of color. You can learn more about Dr. Bukoski and Dr. Hatch’s work through our PM Affiliates website here.
