The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1 - 165

Living-Learning Communities and Men’s Identity Construction

 .  .  . studies suggest the need for collegiate environments that offer men alternatives to narrowly defined gender roles and provide them with support to transcend external gender expectations . Living-learning communities can serve as a collegiate environment that both challenges and supports such gender exploration .

research has sought to also understand students’ experiences in these communities and how their experiences might lead to some of the positive outcomes. using some data from the current study, Wawrzynski et al. (2009) explored students’ experiences in several llcs located within a large public research university. despite differences in the focus of these communities, students described them as possessing cultures that promoted seamless learning, a scholarly environment, and an ethos of relatedness among faculty, staff, and peers. Because these environments seemed to provide students with a sense of safety and support, we wondered whether they might be ripe for challenging traditional notions of masculinity, which davis (2002) and davis and laker (2004) deem essential for healthy gender identity development. consequently, in this study, we examined how men in particular described their llc experience, paying particular attention to their meaningmaking as related to men’s identity development literature.

are especially favorable or unfavorable to the development of individuals with particular personal characteristics” (p. 18), llcs are often touted as environments that support student success (inkelas & Weisman, 2003; Pike, 1999; Wawrzynski, Jessup-anger, Helman, stoltz, & Beaulieu, 2009). these communities consist of participants who “(1) live together on campus, (2) take part in a shared academic endeavor, (3) use resources in their residence environment designed specifically for them, and (4) have structured social activities in their residential environment that stress academics” (inkelas, Zeller, murphy, & Hummel, 2006, p. 11). research on llcs has focused primarily on the outcomes of these communities on student achievement (Pasque & murphy, 2005; Pike, 1999; stassen, 2003), faculty-student interaction (inkelas & Weisman; Pascarella & terenzini, 1981; stassen), and social integration (inkelas & Weisman; Pike; stassen). emerging

METHODS
in the current study, we used a phenomenological (van manen, 1990), constructivist approach (Broido & manning, 2002) to explore how men made meaning of their experiences in llcs. the constructivist perspective (Piaget, 1972) aligned with our assumption that students’ meaning-making about their experiences in the llc would be rooted in their previous experiences and perspectives as knowers. Furthermore, it supported our phenomenological methodology, as it encouraged our exploration of students’ reflections on their lived experiences (van manen).

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1
