The purpose of this research dissertation was to investigate and explore consciousness in millennial African American men. This study defined consciousness in the form of self-concept or self-conceptualization, the image we have of ourselves (Akbar, 1991; McLeod 2008). The research question under investigation is, How do African American college…

Despite significant cultural attention on the phenomenon of school shootings, one of the most predictive dimensions of these tragedies is under-analyzed: gender. Men commit 98% of mass shootings, but robust discussion and research on this relationship is lacking. This dissertation investigates the relationship between masculinity and gun violence…

Despite research (Cormier et al., 2022; Lindsay & Hart, 2017) highlighting the positive impact Black male educators have on Black students, and Black male students in particular, the representation of Black, non-Hispanic male teachers in the U.S. public and private K-12 teaching workforce remains notably low at 1.3% (Taie & Lewis, 2022).…

Perceptions and expectations of masculinity in the United States create difficult conditions for men to discuss the pressures they feel around performing masculinity practices. By remaining relatively silent about these pressures, men secure greater access to material and ideological benefits promised through the patriarchal dividend. The…

This dissertation study addresses the gaps in research concerning the gendered experiences of successful Latino men in higher education. As Latino men in postsecondary education continue to enroll and persist in low numbers, new lenses are needed to consider their educational experiences. This study attempts to add a gendered lens, in the form of…

The Latino male experience in higher education often assumes a heteronormative masculinity framework without critically considering the experiences of gay Latino men as they negotiate heteronormative and heterosexist spaces within the institutional environment. Internalized masculinity constructs that begin within the familial space, and are…

This dissertation examines, through the lenses of three second generation Vietnamese-American men, the socio-cultural contexts within which the Asian-American identity is constructed, knowledge is constructed, and the critical awareness of power dynamics are shaped. These are the contexts and structures within which Asian Americans participate in…

This research contributes to a body of literature that looks for effective responses to the gendered performance gap, the research into the effects of single-sex education, and the social construction of masculinities. This qualitative inquiry focuses on a bounded group of male students who graduated from New England single-sex high schools and…

Since the mid-twentieth century, a shift in demographics of those attending higher education institutions has resulted in increased attention to underrepresented students and their development, specifically their social identities, including race (Cross, 1991), gender (Gilligan, 1982), and sexual orientation (Cass, 1979; D'Augelli, 1994;…

This dissertation contains two studies, which are intended to expand our current knowledge about girls with ASD without intellectual disability. The first study examined sex-differences in ASD symptom endorsement and coexisting internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The second study explored the social behaviors of boys and girls with ASD at…

Gender and achievement is controversial. Social and cultural concerns about who boys are and who they should become is tied closely to how both coeducational and single-gender schools function, and how they approach literacy issues. Currently, there is little understanding of social and cultural influences on students' experiences with discourse…

This study explored the family dynamics of persistent African American college men. These students were typical Black males, not those pre-categorized as high-achieving or unprepared for college. The stories of participants revealed their strength, ambition, and intentions to successfully gain a baccalaureate degree. In general Black males are…