\The boys in the back of the room\

Abstract

This study examined how working-class male students perceive their experiences during the first semester at a community college in order to identify strategies they employ to overcome challenges and achieve academic success. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven working-class male students who persisted to at least a second semester at a small, rural community college in the Northeast region of the United States. Transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to identify themes. Four major themes emerged: dealing with anxiety during the transition into the community college; establishing an effective school/work/life balance; building self-efficacy to achieve academic success; and, masculinity issues around the idea of male (dis)engagement. These findings were considered in light of the extant literature and Bourdieu's theory of cultural production through the interaction of habitus, capital, and field, with an emphasis on Connell's theory of the social construction of masculinities. The study suggests that maximizing male students' sense of mattering and utilizing strategies that increase self-efficacy, especially First-Year Experience courses, can increase the likelihood of student persistence and achieving academic success.