Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Class and Undergraduate Academic Achievement

SES-1334610 Camille CharlesApril YeeeUniversity of Pennsylvania高等教育是美国社会社会流动的重要途径，但在接受高等教育的机会和结果方面存在的显著社会阶层差异引发了人们对这一机会的承诺的质疑。现有的研究未能解释大学里到底发生了什么，以促进或阻碍社会流动。本论文在一所大型城市公立大学进行了200多个深度访谈和800小时的参与观察，研究了来自不同社会阶层背景的学生如何在大学的前两年取得学业成功。早期的研究结果表明，来自所有社会阶层背景的学生对大学成功有着相似的信念，这些信念随着时间的推移而改变。然而，他们的成功战略之间出现了重大差异，导致教育成果不平等。这项研究提供了一个独特的画像本科生的日常生活，以及潜在的新的解释，大学成绩差距的社会阶层和不平等的复制通过education.Broader ImpactResearch的研究结果有潜在的实际意义，高等教育的决策者和管理人员越来越多地把他们的注意力从大学获得大学完成。通过揭示来自较低社会阶层背景的学生的学术经历，这项研究可以为制定保留政策和计划提供信息，以帮助支持那些最有可能在毕业前离开大学的学生。在今天的美国，大学学位已经取代了高中文凭，成为进入中产阶级的必备条件。大学里发生的事情--无论学生在学业上成功还是失败--都将他们引向不同的成年轨迹，限制了他们追求各种职业道路的机会，并最终为他们准备了一系列与收入、婚姻和健康有关的不同生活结果。因此，理解大学学业成绩的不平等对于理解美国社会的不平等至关重要。

SES-1334610Camille CharlesApril YeeUniversity of PennsylvaniaHigher education is a critical pathway for social mobility in American society, yet significant social class disparities in access to and outcomes from higher education raise questions about the promise of this opportunity. Extant research fails to explain what actually happens in college to promote or hinder social mobility. Drawing upon more than 200 in-depth interviews and 800 hours of participant observation at a large, urban, public university, this dissertation research investigates how students from different social class backgrounds attempt to achieve academic success during the first two years of college. Early findings reveal that students from all social class backgrounds shared similar beliefs about college success, and that these beliefs changed over time. However, important differences emerged between their strategies for success, which resulted in unequal educational outcomes. This research offers a unique portrait of undergraduate daily life, as well as potential new explanations for the college achievement gap by social class and the reproduction of inequality through education.Broader ImpactResearch findings have potential practical implications for higher education policymakers and administrators who are increasingly focusing their attention beyond college access to college completion. By revealing the academic experiences of students from lower social class backgrounds, this study can inform the creation of retention policies and programs to help support the students who are most likely to leave college before graduating. In the United States today, a college degree has replaced a high school diploma as the requirement for entry into the middle class. What happens in college- whether students academically succeed or fail- points them towards divergent trajectories to adulthood, constrains opportunities to pursue various professional paths, and ultimately prepares them for a host of different life outcomes related to earnings, marriage, and health. Understanding inequality in academic achievement in college is therefore vital for understanding inequality in American society.