Doctoral Dissertation Research: Youth, Poverty and Educational Success

摘要本研究的目的是探讨为什么一些与贫困作斗争的年轻人能够在剥夺和不平等的环境中克服障碍并取得成功，而另一些人却陷入了同样的贫困困境。通过三年的人种学研究，我提供了一个来自低收入城市的16个年轻人生活的整体视角。我阐明了日常活动的组织如何能够获得学术成功所需的技能和社会关系，并分析了这些有价值的社会网络和技能是如何培养和共享的。我没有把重点放在教育环境上，而是记录了16个年轻人的经历，用一个整体的视角来看待他们的生活。这本详细的民族志追踪了年轻人生活的多个组成部分，包括学校、工作、家庭、邻居、同龄人、恋爱关系、爱好、课外活动和休闲。总之，我的目的是更深入地了解阶级对年轻人教育成果的影响，同时研究如何克服困难。本项目产生的数据主要包括参与者观察所得的民族志数据和对一群青年及其网络的深度访谈。研究的更广泛影响考虑到美国的贫困率在2010年上升到15.1%，这是自1993年以来的最高水平，那些在贫困中长大的人在获得教育成功方面面临巨大的障碍，继续探索贫困阻碍教育成就的过程以及一些人如何克服障碍，这一点从未如此重要。在政策层面，我的论文阐明了从高中到大学的过渡可以更好地促进年轻人的方式。我将展示教育表现受到多种生活环境的影响，展示可以在校内和校外进行干预的途径，并强调有助于实现这种转变的资源和技能。

Doctoral Dissertation Research: Youth, Poverty and Educational SuccessRanita RayAbstractThe goal of this research is to investigate why some young adults battling poverty are able to overcome barriers and achieve success in an environment of deprivation and inequality, while others fall prey to the same predicaments of poverty. Drawing on three years of ethnographic study, I provide a holistic lens on the lives of sixteen young adults from a low-income city. I illuminate how the organization of daily activities can grant access to the skills and social relations required for academic success and analyze how these valuable forms of social networks and skills are cultivated and shared. Instead of primarily focusing on educational settings, I document the experiences of sixteen youth presenting a holistic lens on their lives. This detailed ethnography follows the young adults into multiple components of their lives, including school, work, family, neighborhood, peer groups, romantic relationships, hobbies, extra curricular activities and leisure. In sum, I aim to generate a more thorough understanding of the effect of class on educational outcome among young adults while simultaneously examining what is takes to overcome hardships. Data generated by this project mainly includes ethnographic data drawing on participant observation and in-depth interviews among a group of youth and their networks. Broader Impact of StudyConsidering the fact that America's poverty rate rose to 15.1% in 2010, its highest level since 1993 and those growing up in poverty face tremendous barriers in achieving educational success, it has never been more important to continue to explore the processes through which poverty hinders educational achievements and how some overcome the barriers. At the policy level, my dissertation illuminates ways in which the transition from high school to college can be better facilitated among young adults. I will show that educational performance is influenced by multiple contexts of life, demonstrate the avenues inside and outside school where interventions can be made and, highlight the resources and skills that are helpful in making this transition.