Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

ThisDissertation examined how college men at Wabash College understand good behavior and masculinity while living under a subjective honor code: the Gentleman's Rule. This included how students learned about and talk about the honor code and particular behaviors that students would identify as exemplifying the Gentleman's Rule in action. To unearth this information, 12 current Wabash students were each individually interviewed for roughly an hour. Contributions from respondents were subjected to a phenomenological analysis to determine the essence of students' experiences related to the Gentleman's Rule. The study found that students typically learned about the Gentleman's Rule as prospective students still in high school, and had formative conversations only up to the end of freshman orientation. Students also understood masculinity to be complex and not something to be narrowly defined. Most understandings of masculinity were entwined with their understandings of good character or gentlemanliness, with little agreement of any characteristics of masculinity that fell outside of gentlemanliness related to the Gentleman's Rule. Meta-themes that emerged as connected to gentlemanly behavior included personal responsibility, respect for others, reasoned discussion, and self-awareness. This conflicted with negative stereotypes of hegemonic masculinity that college men are subjected to by society at large. These results inform higherEducation institutions about the ideals that college men associate with masculinity and good behavior/gentlemanliness and how those factor into the effectiveness of a subjective honor code. New modes of addressing and working with college men are called for to benefit college men and improve engagement and retention rates among men. Ideas for implementation of a subjective honor code are also given as well as opportunities for further study.

Download

Share

COinS