This article was written by Susan Marion, Coordinator for Success Coaches at Tiffin University. Since 2007, Susan Marion has developed and implemented student success coach strategies at her university. The program has 15 coaches and supports approximately 100 students.
In recent years, it has been well-documented that women’s college graduation rates have started to outpace those of their male counterparts. In addition, more women than men are now earning master’s and post-doctoral degrees. Many scholars, coaches, and college institutions debate the reasons for the gender disparity and what can be done to close the gap. Perhaps part of the solution involves effective student success coaching for men and giving additional aid to male undergraduates struggling with their first year of college.
Most students who enter my university’s success coaching program tend to be male students. Since rates of graduation tend to be lower for male students, it’s essential to reach these students where they’re at. Some of these students need coaching that can help them mature both personally and academically.
Other male students might take longer to settle in socially to college than females, whether due to personal struggles, fear of rejection, or other outside factors. Some students might take longer to understand why a college degree and graduation pathway to success can be a great part of life and a big accomplishment.
Helping male students to see a college degree as pivotal for their future rather than a burdensome prerequisite to other paths can improve their college experience. Working to change negative mindsets is one of the best ways to reach struggling male students.
So, how can we effectively serve struggling male students? The good news is that male students respond well to student success coaching. Minority male students, who often struggle to complete college degrees or find support, benefit specifically from consistent academic coaching. A study by Watermark found that institutions that utilized student success coaching for men increased minority male retention by more than 20%.
Many students respond well to a student success coach, whether male or female. Despite the coach’s gender, many male students need a mixture of nurturing, compassionate care and hard pushes to succeed. You need to prove to the student that you care about him before setting rules and expectations. Once you’ve established trust and respect between student and coach, male students will often rise to the occasion when pushed to succeed.
Several former students stopped in my office or contacted me to thank me for my hard work and strong drive for students’ success. It may seem cliché, but male students excel when you clearly outline what’s expected of them and then push them hard to finish it.
Recently, a group of Navy Seals did a team-building workshop with our football team. One of my students, a defensive lineman with a challenging course load that semester, told me beforehand that the training would likely be brutal, but he was up for the challenge.
“You’re alive!” I exclaimed when he walked into my office for our next meeting.
“Barely,” he replied, smiling. I asked him what he had learned that might apply to his academic work. “I learned that I can ‘gut out’ just about anything,” he said. “There will be an end to this semester — until then, I just have to access that ability to be strong, keep going, and get it done.”
I thought, “Yes, Grasshopper. Now you are catching on.”
Interested in learning more about Watermark’s work with minority male students? Check out our three-year research project we conducted in partnership with 11 schools from the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS). See how technology-enabled success coaching led to an over 20% increase in retention among participating schools. Learn more about our Minority Male Success Initiative (MMSI) here.
