Considering Social Class Diversity and Differences in Meaning Making

• In Event: Roundtable Session 38
  In Roundtable Session: College Students and Diversity Experiences

Abstract

Although social class has been considered a motivational drive for students to attend a complete college, social class remains the identity dimension rarely discussed among students, faculty, and staff. Existing research on college student development continues to overlook the role social class can have on college students’ identity development (Erikson, 1968; Chickering & Reisser, 1993). This study examines differences in student perceptions of social class and how this perception might affect meaning making (Kegan, 1994; Baxter Magolda, 2001) and identity development. This study seeks to identify ways in which students identified social class as salient to their identity development, and how social class and economic diversity affected how they made meaning. Implications for research and practice will be discussed.

Author

• Avery B. Olson, University of California - Los Angeles