Reframing "Choice" and "Aspiration": Bringing Philosophy to Bear on Concepts of Social Capital and Preferences

• In Event: Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: Values, Concepts, Cases: Questions of Method in Philosophy of Education

Abstract

Scholars in distinct academic disciplines may examine the same or similar phenomena in education policy and practice, often relying on concepts that are well-known within each discipline. In this paper we examine two related social science concepts – social capital and adaptive preferences – each used to explain the educational choices and aspirations of students who are underrepresented in higher education. We make the case that integrating the philosophical concept of the “social context of choice” into analyses using “social capital” or “adaptive preferences” enriches how scholars and educators think about students’ educational choices and aspirations. We ground our philosophical examination using empirical examples from a two-year study of an educational outreach program for low-income students.

Authors

• Michele S. Moses, University of Colorado Boulder

• Kathryn Elizabeth Wiley, University of Colorado - Boulder