The purpose of this constructivist inquiry was to explore the impact of socially prescribed gender roles on college men’s identity development. Ten White, traditionally-aged students were interviewed and data from the interviews were analyzed using hermeneutic phenomenology. Students discussed communication restrictions associated with scripted gender roles, fear of femininity, feelings of being overly challenged, and a sense of confusion about masculinity.

Gilligan’s (1982) landmark self-in-relation theory of women’s development inspired important challenges to traditional views of human development and led to the reevaluation of many of the theories that undergird the practice of student development. Student affairs scholars and practitioners no longer rely solely on theories that have been constructed primarily by and about men. Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule (1986), for example, developed a conceptual framework that helped student affairs practitioners better understand women’s cognitive development. Josselson’s (1987, 1996) and Jones’s (1997) investigations allow student affairs professionals to hear women’s voices in the context of identity development. The findings in these studies demonstrate the need for student affairs practitioners to become familiar with the ways that gender affects development. Although researchers have begun to investigate how gender affects women’s