Reflecting on reconnecting males to higher education

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the recommendations from a Morehouse College symposium on higher education's shifting gender balance, Men on Our Campuses: Reconnecting Males to Liberal Education.

Full text

This chapter summarizes the recommendations from a
Morehouse College symposium on higher education’s
shifting gender balance, Men on Our Campuses:
Reconnecting Males to Liberal Education.
NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, no. 107, Fall 2004 © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 9
1
Reflecting on Reconnecting Males to
Higher Education
Obie Clayton, Cynthia Lucas Hewitt, Eddie D. Gaffney
What are the causes of the deepening crisis of disconnect between young
black men and educational institutions, particularly higher education insti-
tutions, and what can be done about it? Recently, this question was posed
in relation to the experience of young men in general, whose postsec-
ondary enrollment, across the board, is becoming disparately low in com-
parison with women. In April 2001, Morehouse College convened a
two-day symposium entitled Reconnecting Males to Liberal Education; it
attracted a diverse group of nearly one hundred scholars, policy makers,
community leaders, and students from around the country to begin plan-
ning a long-term effort to address the declining fortunes of males in higher
education. Increasingly, there is questioning as to whether educational dis-
parities are a problem of young black and other minority men, or of all
young men across race—particularly those of lower socioeconomic status.
The conference focused on establishing the degree to which a trend of low
and declining completion of a college education is occurring and affecting
males—African American, Native American, Hispanic, and indeed all male
youths—and how ongoing discriminatory practices in education contribute
to this outcome.
This chapter summarizes the conference findings on factors contribut-
ing to the often low achievement outcomes of males, and black males in par-
ticular, at the K–12 as well as postsecondary education levels; presents a
review of what is known theoretically about the causes; and discusses the
question of building a research agenda. The goal is to raise questions to
stimulate research that is not focused simply on observing trends but rather

10 DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR COLLEGE MEN
on understanding successful education initiatives, and assessing the extent
of their generalizability, as a foundation for policy enactment.
This study took as its starting premise the importance of a college
degree to earning power, and this earning power to stability of families, both
nuclear and extended. A low number of black men prepared for jobs requir-
ing a college degree and providing better-than-average earnings impedes
family formation, pushes up household poverty rates, and contributes to the
likelihood of social disorder. A college education is also critical in develop-
ing the abstract thinking necessary to comprehend the processes that affect
our lives in a globalized economy, and to participate effectively in the polit-
ical arena and civil society. The increasing relative success of women in aca-
demics may become both the effect and an effective cause of structural shifts
in social organizations, including schools, workplaces, and cultural arenas,
that provide hospitable and embracing environments for women but may
affect male development negatively. Our findings suggest that the relevance
of a college degree, and a liberal arts degree in particular, should not be
taken for granted; instead, it may be a starting point for investigating this
trend of disengagement.
The Situation
As reported at the conference, in 1995–96 approximately 37 percent of the
black undergraduate student population under age twenty-five were men,
and the disparity among older undergrads was even larger, as we encounter
the phenomenon that people who return to enroll in college at an older age
are disproportionately female. Only Native Americans suffer a larger gen-
der gap in college enrollment, with young men making up only 30 percent
of enrolled students (King, 2000). In 1999, black men earned 36 percent of
the bachelor’s degrees awarded to African Americans (U.S. Census, 2000).
In general, the gender gap is concentrated among low-income students.
Among all low-income students, males constitute 44 percent; among low-
income whites, they are 46 percent; for African Americans, they are 32 per-
cent; for Native Americans, 23 percent, and for those of Hispanic ethnicity,
43 percent. Only among Asian Americans do males retain a majority, 53
percent. In midrange and higher-income households in general, young men
tend to be equally represented, 50 percent and 51 percent, respectively.
Among blacks, however, there remains a substantial gender gap even at
higher income levels, as men make up 41 percent of the upper-income black
students (King, 2000).
Beyond male-female gaps, the prevalence of a college education among
black men is significantly low. In Georgia, the recent task force on black
male education of the Board of Regents found that fewer than 2 percent
of the students at the state’s main research institution, the University of
Georgia, were black men, in a state where they number roughly 17 percent
of public school enrollment. The ratio of black women to black men there

REFLECTING ON RECONNECTING MALES TO HIGHER EDUCATION 11
is two to one, a rate typical for Georgia’s public college campuses
(McCarthy, 2002).
The question is whether, in general, men are a declining portion of stu-
dents enrolled in higher education. At the conference, it was reported
(based on National Center for Education Statistics data) that in 1998 men
were 43 percent of students, down from 48 percent in 1985, and their rep-
resentation is expected to continue to decline to 42 percent of students
enrolled by 2010 (“Men on Our Campuses,” 2001). However, even though
2000 data show this ratio holding, 2001 data show a reversal, as men make
up 48.6 percent of the population enrolled in college (U.S. Department of
Labor, 2002). Are these fluctuations or are they trends—and even if fluctu-
ations, are there gendered patterns? There are other figures that raise con-
cern. In terms of bachelor’s degrees conferred, men amount to only 43
percent of the recipients in 2000–01. The higher male proportion of the
enrolled student population in 2001 should result in a greater gender par-
ity of degrees earned in two or three years, unless gender differences in
retention, or in enrollment by type of college, come into play. Beginning
in 1980, attainment at the master’s level by women has also increasingly
come to surpass that of men (U.S. Department of Education, 2002).
It is in the area of liberal arts education that disparities are particularly
apparent. Even where overall underrepresentation is not occurring, men are
underrepresented in particular fields, notably education, psychology, com-
munications, and public administration, and in the institutions focusing on
those areas (liberal arts colleges). For instance, Dickinson College reports
that in 1999, before their innovative recruitment efforts reversed the
decline, only 36 percent of the freshman class was male (“Men on Our
Campuses,” 2001).
The significance of this lower representation of men in general among
college enrollment remained a question on which assessments differed.
Many concluded that when the gap is examined, it is apparent that the
majority of male students are doing fine; it is among men of color and white
men at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale that substantial problems
exist. Others, particularly those focused on liberal arts education, see fun-
damental problems in connection with male students. Jacqueline King, of
the American Council on Education, cautions that much of the gender gap
can be attributed to the major influx of older women into college in the
1980s and 1990s (King, 2000). However, even when data are reported for
only age twenty-four and younger, disparities are still seen.
Circumstances That Result in Underrepresentation
The low representation of black men obtaining a college degree, in par-
ticular, is fueled by disparities in the number of black male youths who
graduate from high school, take college preparatory courses, score ade-
quately on achievement tests, and have the financial wherewithal to attend

12 DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR COLLEGE MEN
college. Of those black male youths who do enroll in college, many fall
victim to problems that make achieving an acceptable level of retention a
critical factor. In general, circumstances that result in underrepresenta-
tion of black male students in college begin long before freshman year.
Overwhelmingly, the K–12 school system is failing to impart to black male
youths the skills and aspirations necessary to enter, persist, and obtain a
higher education degree.
Theoretical Approaches to Understanding
Black men’s struggles for success in education can be better understood by
looking at factors such as cultural resistance, gender identity, availability of
black teachers, and societal priorities.
Institutional Racism and Cultural Resistance. Approaches to
understanding the root causes of this disparity in successful college gradu-
ation for males, and black males in particular, have tended to fall into the
category of those focusing on how schools are failing children—structural
explanations—and those pointing to cultural differences as the source of
the problem. Structural analyses have identified provision of unequal
amounts of information (the failure of schools to offer equal instruction,
adequate curricula, and challenging and developmental assignments) par-
ticularly through tracking, as the central reason for unequal outcomes by
race. Such unequal access in a public institution—the school—is essentially
a gross violation of the student’s constitutional right to an equal education
in all respects. This is one of the most significant types of institutional
racism forming the bedrock of the continuing significance of racism and
discrimination.
Although the continuing failure of American society to provide equal
education affects both black male and female youths, there is an added
dimension of deprivation associated with male gender, given the social hier-
archy. Overall, it has been found that discrimination takes the form of
attempts to exclude blacks from leadership and social control roles, which
white males are groomed to fill. The overwhelmingly superior academic per-
formance among many groups of Asian heritage—shown in their increas-
ingly disproportionate presence in colleges—should translate into a
disproportionate presence in boardrooms and political leadership positions
across America, but this has not occurred. In fact, it was only with the uni-
versalistic gains resulting from the civil rights struggles that citizens of Asian
heritage began to see such positions open up to them (Jiobu, 1988; Onishi,
1996; U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1988).
Black male youths, by virtue of being male, are imbued with an expec-
tation of high status, yet by virtue of being African or minority they are iden-
tified within the American social stratification system with low status; hence
low expectations are conveyed by the dominant ideological state structure—
the schools. Many black and low-income youths appear to “penetrate” the

REFLECTING ON RECONNECTING MALES TO HIGHER EDUCATION 13
achievement ideology and recognize that they are not well placed to obtain
one of the limited number of privileged slots available. This realization is
reflected in the lack of teacher expectancy, support, and encouragement for
black males in particular, and the prevalence of encountering school per-
sonnel who do not seem to care (Polite, 1999; Tucker and others, 2000).
Then, understanding that they are not among essentially the top 20 percent
or so, rather than competing they make the logical and common choice of
electing not to try, not to engage, as argued by Arthur Combs in Myths in
Education (1979). This status inconsistency may be resolved in the only way
that offers the youths some control over the criteria: rejection of identifica-
tion with the American achievement ideology and commitment to an alter-
native community criterion for success.
Given the range of identity options people are exposed to, they elect to
fashion their self-identity around goals that are attainable, and hence sup-
portive of a sense of personal efficacy. Thus at the root of what may be
viewed as an “aberrant” black male youth culture is adoption of an identity
structure independent of the “American identity” connected to the univer-
salistic achievement ethos. Black male youth subcultures may be fashioned
around an alternative, possibly oppositional, identity structure that includes
limited academic criteria. Osborne’s studies (1999) of African American
boys’ identification with academics showed a dramatic decrease between the
eighth and tenth grades, with further decrease by grade twelve. Further, this
disidentification has increased over time, from 1972, when appreciable
racial differences were not apparent, to 1992, when such differences were
significant and substantial.
Gender Identity and Attitudes Toward Academics: Are Male Roles
Changing? There is also considerable evidence of not only status incon-
sistency for youth who are male and black but also compounding effects
of what we may term male “role strain.” The male role set traditionally
valorized in American society for white males was characterized by com-
petitive, relatively aggressive behavior; lack of competition by females;
freedom from repetitive, detailed tasks that require tact and discipline; and
expectation of preeminence, or privilege. Attitudes boys and girls have
toward specific academic subjects and how they relate to their own gen-
der identities appear to influence their performance in different subjects.
Math and science are more often associated with masculinity, while
humanities and the social sciences can require skills and attributes more
often associated with feminine behavior. This is not categorical. Clearly
the humanities and social sciences were locations where the national iden-
tity was defined through the telling of history, enshrinement of a philo-
sophical base, propagation of forms of nationalism, and legitimation of the
stratification system. This was done primarily by men and serves one of
the major realms of social power. However, shifts in the locus of these
“latent pattern maintenance functions,” to use the concept of Talcott
Parsons (1977), may be at the heart of a shift in male choices among

disciplines, as economists replace philosophers and engineers replace
social scientists. Unraveling these complex trends in social stratification
may help explain the relatively smaller male pool for liberal arts.
Thus it is an open question whether and to what extent male roles are
changing, whether they are retaining essential characteristics, and whether
they should take on new characteristics to adapt to changing social struc-
tures. Kimmel presented the suggestion that masculinity is too narrowly
defined in our culture. Consequently, males shun behavior outside of the
type described here and react to the evolving social conditions that are invit-
ing their interest with rejection, instead adopting hypermasculinity to com-
pensate. This is consonant with the work of Paul Willis (1977). He finds in
his classic study of low-income (working-class) youth in England that the
patriarchal element of their male culture ensured that they remained
focused on manual pursuits; thus—despite their apprehension that they
would lack opportunity in their place in the social structure—they did not
seek to change their male role conception by developing skills perceived as
unmasculine that would offer them white-collar jobs. Brenda Bankart, a psy-
chologist attending the conference, also suggested that society gives boys
too narrow a portal through which to express themselves as males.
One of the outcomes of the conference was endorsement of the need to
study and know what constitutes male traits—perhaps by way of mas-
culinity studies. Because of their hegemony historically, men have not been
spurred to carry out the self-conscious evaluation “minorities” have under-
taken, which resulted in the conscious attempt to shape structures to adjust
for and accommodate to factors unique to the group that are a locus of dis-
advantage. Studies have documented evidence to show that boys tend to
thrive in educational environments that are competitive and include at least
some degree of physical activity (“Men on Our Campuses,” 2001). How-
ever, it is not clear whether school districts have incorporated this infor-
mation into their pedagogy; given the trend toward added hours of core
instruction—less time allotted for recess and recreation, or manual arts such
as music and band—it seems unlikely that this has been done. (Interest-
ingly, amid the explosion of attention to gender roles incited by the push
for state recognition of gay marriages, there is sudden attention to the pos-
sible injustice and deleterious effects of having no recess time in Georgia
schools—perhaps one arena of the structure of the school day particularly
important to male youths.)
The Need for Cultural Congruence: The Struggle for Male and
Minority Teachers. There is considerable evidence that the low number of
minority, and black male, teachers in particular is a great hindrance to young
black men successfully navigating the academic experience and emerging
with the prerequisites for successful college completion. Black male educa-
tors and male single-sex schools may provide an optimal environment for
success in increasing the pool of well-prepared black male college entrants.
First, retention in high school is greatly affected by disciplinary actions.
14 DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR COLLEGE MEN

REFLECTING ON RECONNECTING MALES TO HIGHER EDUCATION 15
Behaviors disproportionately identified with male culture are often the basis
for disciplinary action, and far too often they become cause for suspension
and expulsion, with the increased likelihood of termination of these youths’
educational careers (Irvine, 1991). Again, being male and black compounds
the difficulties (Blumenson and Nilsen, 2002). One known ameliorative fac-
tor is the presence of male teachers, particularly of the same race or ethnic-
ity. There is a significant literature showing that teachers are less likely to
deem inappropriate behavior sufficiently offensive to warrant bureaucratic
disciplinary response, and more likely to attempt to cope with the behavior
and change it, if it is understandable from within their social experiential
base. Research has shown that men tend to be less affected by the sponta-
neous active and challenging behavior frequently encountered among boys,
and they are more likely to praise and encourage them (Foster and Peele,
1999). In fact, successful African American teachers often develop a teach-
ing style that capitalizes upon this type of outlook and expression (Slaughter-
Defoe and Nakagawa, 1990; Lancer, 2002; Watson and Smitherman, 1996).
The statistics on black teachers, minority teachers, and black male
teachers in particular are distinctly alarming, as was stressed at the confer-
ence (“Men on Our Campuses,” 2001). African Americans in the teaching
profession have declined from 8.6 percent of the teaching force in 1980 to
6.8 percent in 1994 (U.S. Department of Education, 1997). Central to the
sharp decline in black teachers was the desegregation process (Meier,
Stewart, and England, 1989). In terms of immediate causes, a National
Education Association study concludes that “state-mandated testing poli-
cies and practices far outweigh all other often cited reasons for the minor-
ity teacher shortage,” being responsible for elimination of an estimated
37,717 minority candidates for education schools and teachers, including
21,515 blacks (Smith, 1988, 1989). Clearly this finding relevant to black
males is also of critical importance to all boys, particularly those of low
socioeconomic status: Has there been a precipitous decline of male teach-
ers, particularly in middle school and high school?
There is a need to increase recruitment, financial support for, and
retention of black teachers. The work of Meier, Stewart, and England
(1989) showed that this goal is furthered where there is a significant num-
ber of blacks in the higher administration of the educational system, and
that the number of school administrators correlates directly with the level
of black political representation at the local and regional levels. Key
appointments and goal expectations are often set by the legislature and
executive structure, and this translates into more hiring of minority admin-
istrators, who then select, support, and train as necessary more black
school teachers. Again, the presence or absence of whites from lower-class
backgrounds, traditionally supplied by the immigrant population, may also
correlate with the presence or absence of their group in school adminis-
tration, and ultimately among political representatives. In general, the dis-
crepancy between black—and in particular, black male—outcomes and

expected educational attainment is viewed by many as a political issue—
essentially one of civil rights.
Economic Competition from the Work World, and the Cost of
Education. Perhaps the most understudied question of critical impact is
the effect on college aspirations of the assessment of the benefits of a col-
lege degree by recent graduates—the elder brothers, cousins, and friends of
the young men as they are making their choice. Their experiences are a crit-
ical influence. On the basis of what is currently only anecdotal evidence,
when asked young adults complain about the difficulty of obtaining a job
commensurate with having a college degree, in the field in which she or he
studied, and paying a decent wage. We have taken for granted the connect
between education and job availability. Essentially, we may fall into the trap
of misconstruing a rapid percentage rise among white-collar, skilled, and
high-tech jobs for a major increase in the absolute number of jobs becom-
ing available (Rothstein, 1999).
Saskia Sassen (1991) questioned viewing the shift to a service economy
as exemplary of upward mobility to white-collar work. She points to the
need for a disproportionate number of low-skilled workers where the num-
ber of high-skilled workers is expanding, because the latter employ the for-
mer for multiple tasks, such as child care, food prep, home and clothing
cleaning, and so on. Further, as even Robert Reich (1992), secretary of labor
in the Clinton administration, points out, only the nonroutinized jobs—the
“symbolic analyst” jobs involving cutting-edge problem defining and solv-
ing through networking and resource mobilization—are likely to continue
to be high-paid. This distinction is not based on the college major, degree,
or occupation, but on the nature of the job, whether it is connected to a
knowledge-intensive, cutting-edge production setting, or whether it in-
volves repetitive tasks. In general, we may be guilty of underestimating the
salience and impact of the folk knowledge that young men are operating
under when they make decisions about college, as popularized in the best-
seller Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Understanding the apprehension of this situation
on the part of young men, how they make sense of this, and why it may lead
to gender-specific outcomes is critical to connecting males to postsecondary
education.
On the other side of the equation, at the high school level competing
forces tend to lure young men away from school and into the workforce
early. Increasingly, the unrelenting consumerist orientation is leading to a
culture where purchases mediate identity formation (Lasn, 2000). Who you
are is what you buy, display, and consume. Identities, from the generic to
the more discrete and unique, are available for sale.
The pull on young men may be more intensive. The forces for con-
sumerism have in relatively recent years successfully revolutionized the role
of the male from primarily earner to consumer, and among youth we may
find that by gender he is the larger consumer. The successful linking of
icons of male-centered culture (sports and sport figures in particular) to
16 DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR COLLEGE MEN

items marketed for identity (sport shoes, jerseys, and so on) is a major inno-
vation (Gereffi, 1993; Mies, 2001). Further, car culture and technology cul-
ture (cell phones, computer games, and so on) have also greatly extended
the commercialization of what have been historically masculine traits. In
particular, Thomas Mortenson pointed out that male earning power is
greater than that of females immediately after high school and thus may
exert a disproportionate pull into the labor force for them. In 1997 men
earned $22,440 compared to $15,789 for women, a pattern that held for all
races (“Men on Our Campuses,” 2001). On the other hand, the cost of
higher education has continued to escalate, perhaps forcing the issue of
long-term debt and circumscribed discretionary income. These trends may
reinforce the pressure on youths to become consumers, and to take jobs
before finishing school—leading perhaps to not graduating, or graduating
but not going to college.
There is also a general trend of decreasing real purchasing power, such
that the one-earner middle-class family has increasingly given way to the
two-earner family, which in its turn now is being supplanted by the multiple-
earner family model (Schor, 1992). For African Americans, who in the aggre-
gate have approximately 11 percent of the wealth of white American families,
there is often little or no savings to be invested in providing identity con-
sumption to their children so they can have the leisure to focus on their stud-
ies (Oliver and Shapiro, 1995). Further, money-seeking activities may not
only compete successfully with their academic commitments but even
destroy their academic future if they include illegal activities. Clearly, these
same forces are likely to be at work among low-income families.
Incarceration and Criminalization. Finally, in the quest for resources
and status, too many young black men become involved with criminal activ-
ities, which can lead to criminal careers if incarceration is the social sanction
applied. Increasingly, issues and situations that were handled on a case-by-
case basis within schools and with the parents are now required to be sub-
mitted as part of the de jure legal record, with prescribed negative effects on
a student’s ability to remain in school or receive financial aid for college.
Blumenson and Nilsen (2002) point out that the war on drugs, combined
with the zero-tolerance policies enacted by those states containing 88 per-
cent of public schools, led to the suspension of 3.1 million students and
expulsion of 87,000 in the 1998 school year. Mandatory punishments are
applied in a draconian way without distinction between true threats of vio-
lence and genuinely low-risk situations. Impelled by the spate of in-school
violence in the 1990s, legislators reacted by casting “all students as objects
of worry and suspicion” and establishing systems of surveillance (Blumenson
and Nilsen, 2002, p. 5).
According to one study cited, approximately 80 percent of students
charged with drug or alcohol infractions are suspended or expelled from
school, no matter how insignificant the amount. African American students
are expelled from school at twice the rate of white students, and although
REFLECTING ON RECONNECTING MALES TO HIGHER EDUCATION 17

African Americans are 13 percent of all monthly drug users they are 55 per-
cent of those convicted of drug possession and 74 percent of those sen-
tenced to prison for possession (Blumenson and Nilsen, 2002). Students
convicted of a drug offense have been made either temporarily or perma-
nently ineligible for federal college loans and grants by the Drug Free
Student Loans Act of 1998. For those in prison, access to Pell Grants was
terminated by law in 1994. Blumenson and Nilsen write: “The war on drugs
has spawned a second front—a war on education. The casualties of this war
are all poor or lower-income people who cannot afford to buy a private edu-
cation” (Blumenson and Nilsen, 2002, p. 4).
Factors of Success: Directions for Future Research
There is an emerging body of research on single-sex education that over-
whelmingly reports positive effects for boys when attending all-male
schools. Historically, the issue of single-sex education has been posed in
terms of creating conditions where the needs of female students could be
addressed. Now this understanding of the gender specificity of develop-
mental patterns is being employed to explain beneficial effects found in
all-male schooling environments (National Association for Single-Sex
Education, 2002; Riordan, 2003). Single-sex schools have reported major
declines in disciplinary problems and test score improvement, and gains in
academic achievement and educational aspirations, improved self-control
by students, decreased sex role stereotyping, and better attitudes and behav-
iors related to academics. Single-sex school graduates are more likely to
have considered graduate school, and those of both genders attended col-
leges that were more selective than their coed counterparts (Lee and Bryk,
1986; Lee and Marks, 1990). Watson and Smitherman (1996), in their
assessment of the Malcolm X Academy in Detroit, place emphasis on the all-
male nature of the school and the educational perspective these innovators
also brought to the effort: “an African-centered educational philosophy and
program can influence the attitudes, behavior, and educational performance
of Black male students. ...grounded in the human need for identity, pur-
pose, and knowledge of self” (p. 94). Another significant factor they point
to is their “acceptance of the fact that boys and girls learn and develop dif-
ferently” (p. 95). Further research is required to answer the question of
whether self-selection by parents, students, and teachers of single-sex
schools reflects a prior existing difference in value orientation in compari-
son with those who select coeducational schools; hence, generalizing the
model may not generalize the results. Results may stem from the greater cul-
tural coherence between same-sex participants, or simply from involvement
with an experimental project.
Until today, these experiments with single-sex education in public
schools had to be organized under some other stated principle because of
18 DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR COLLEGE MEN

Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1972, intended to prohibit sexual dis-
crimination; however, legislation is expected to pass that frees educators to
develop single-sex schooling (Raspberry, 2002).
Research-Guided Policy Development
What follows are the areas identified at the Morehouse Conference for fur-
ther research as a foundation for policy development.
•Longitudinal studies, particularly of tracking and the placement of
minority and lower-class males, should be carried out, including looking at
the role of counselors, teachers, parents, and the student, seeking to high-
light “hotspots” across the sixteen-year continuum.
•Research efforts should focus on successes: though many young
black men are struggling in school, some have achieved marked success. In
this regard, there is a need to look closely at the successes of all-male edu-
cation, particularly in light of the anticipated regulatory changes to Title IX
that would permit same-gender education in publicly funded institutions.
•Study of the social structural barriers, particularly racism, shaping
the learning environment experienced by black male students is important.
Investigation should also focus on the degree and ways in which environ-
mental and cultural forces influence minority males’ perceptions, and val-
uation, of education. The key here is the study of consumerism and its
differential effects on young men and young women. It is also important
to investigate the structure of the labor market and the response of young
men to it, particularly how college graduates are assessing the situation to
their peers.
•There is a need to better understand male learning styles and inter-
action. At each level, do males have special learning needs? If so, how can
they be met? Can we learn anything from the previous focus on women?
We need to know whether information on boys’ learning styles is filtering
into school pedagogy, and with what results? What is the impact of the gen-
der of a child’s teacher on the student’s overall academic performance, and
what can be done to increase the prevalence of male teachers, particularly
of racial-minority and low-income background?
•To understand the trends occurring, it is important to look carefully
at disaggregated data and analyze the interaction of gender, race, and class for
students and teachers. More detailed research on African American, Native
American, and Latino males, among whom a large number of at-risk males
are found, would provide a base of comparative information. There is also a
need for information that considers class or socioeconomic status, along with
race and gender, since across race lower-class males show various degrees of
disadvantage. Analysis of disaggregated disciplinary data is important to
understand the trajectory that leads to failure to complete high school.
REFLECTING ON RECONNECTING MALES TO HIGHER EDUCATION 19

•Attention should be focused on assessing what we know about best
practices for retention of male students in college and high school, a criti-
cal need. In this regard, Morehouse College has a particular commitment to
address black male educational performance and retention issues and
should take leadership in this area.
Policy Implications
The actions listed here are recommended specifically for higher education
institutions seeking to address the issues surrounding at-risk men.
•Increase efforts at retention.
•Pursue modification in recruitment, such as that pioneered by Dickinson
in 1999 (when only 36 percent of the freshman class was male); maybe
appeal to the career focus of many male students.
•Encourage collaboration between colleges and universities in fulfilling
these tasks.
•Provide incentives for colleges and universities to place restoring and
maintaining gender balance high on their list of priorities.
•Strive to increase the number of minority males in the administrative and
professional ranks of higher education, and of K–12.
•Develop stronger partnerships with educators at the K–12 level as well as
with business and community service, and focus parental attention on
these issues.
•Create incentives to educators to produce better outcomes for male stu-
dents at every level.
•Aim to position this issue as an alliance with feminism; policies that
might help male students at the expense of females should be avoided.
Conclusion: National Action Agenda
Making an impact on the problem of black men, and all men, who are at
risk for disengagement from academics and a low rate of college attendance
and completion requires a concerted effort between research and commu-
nity action. Although we seek to understand the causes, we must also seek
to understand the array of forces, particularly those positive to change, that
have not been strengthened to overcome the forces of inertia and decline.
It is important that our research efforts tie into better strategies to convey
information about male academic performance to families so they can keep
their sons from sliding away from the college-bound pipeline.
Second, it is critical that we hold accreditation agencies accountable for
selecting a pool of educational professionals representative of the commu-
nities they must serve. It is not enough to have abstract standards if they
serve to create an alienating environment without cultural congruence for
black youths, males in particular. This is not an equal education. We must
20 DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR COLLEGE MEN

also collaborate effectively with after-school providers, such as faith com-
munities and businesses, as partners, particularly given the difficulty some
parents experience in furnishing academic support for their children. Given
the large number of young men behind bars, particularly those of low socio-
economic background, and African American and minority males in par-
ticular, greater availability of education in prisons should be pursued.
Finally, we look forward to the development of a statement of principles to
be adopted by the Morehouse-led group, to focus attention on principles
and models of successful male education, and to garner public attention.
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OBIE CLAYTON is professor and chair of sociology and director of the Morehouse
Research Institute, Morehouse College, Atlanta.
CYNTHIA LUCAS HEWITT is assistant professor of sociology at Morehouse
College; her focus is political economy, education, and development.
EDDIE D. GAFFNEY is dean of student services at Morehouse College.
22 DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR COLLEGE MEN