PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine the types and characteristics of male college nursing students' adaptation to their academic department. METHODS: Q methodology was applied to determine the subjectivity of the male nursing students' adaptation to their academic department. Fifty male nursing students were asked to select and answer questions among a set of 36 Q-statements using a 9-point scale. The collected data were analyzed using the PC QUANL program. RESULTS: Three types of male students' adaptation to the department of nursing were identified. Type I was termed ‘resilience-acceptance’, Type II, ‘inner-conflict’, and Type III, ‘goal-oriented’. CONCLUSION: The study results can be used as the basic data needed to develop nursing interventions suitable to the types of male college nursing students' adaptation to their academic department.