Date of Award

Spring 3-12-2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

PhD Higher Education Leadership, Management, Policy

Department

Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Advisor

Eunyoung Kim, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Ebelia Hernandez, Ph.D.

Keywords

Latino, masculinity development, fraternity, machismo, caballerismo

Abstract

Despite accounting for the largest increase in higher education enrollment over the last ten years, Latinx students have continued to earn their bachelor’s degrees among the lowest rates of all racial/ethnic groups. Latino men specifically have continued to underperform Latina females, maintaining one of the widest gender gaps in bachelor’s degree completion rates. There are various challenges that all Latinx students face in relation to earning their bachelor’s degree within six years, however there are unique gender norms within the Latinx culture that impact Latino male students in a more significant way. Tenets of their Latino masculinity create expectations where Latino men are more inclined to seek out opportunities to stay close to family and provide financially rather than dedicating themselves to their college education. There are, however, other aspects of masculinity which help Latino men perceive their higher education as a way to make their families proud and be more able to fulfill their male roles within the Latinx culture. Harris’s Meanings of Masculinity model notes that there are various factors that influence how masculinity develops in college; one significant influencing factor being fraternity involvement. Using Harris’s model as a framework, this study explores the experiences of Latino men involved in fraternities and how they feel their involvement as impacted the development of their ideas of Latino masculinity. The study specifically made note of experiences within their fraternity that may have influenced the development of masculinity ideas that are more aligned with college success.

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