Linked Kin: Commitments in Career Choices at an Elite University

• In Event: Understanding Career Decisions and Postsecondary Trajectories

Abstract

Drawing from 62 interviews with Asian, Black, and White first-generation, lower-income (FGLI), and middle-class students at an elite university, I argue that the intersection of race and class shapes students’ sense of purpose in thinking about their career paths. Patterns of purpose could be categorized into two kinds of obligations: one towards racial uplift and another towards family. This study demonstrates the importance of these obligations, which can be overlooked by universities that view students as individuals untied to their biological and fictive kin. Insights from this study can inform policy implications for higher education administrators, student affairs professionals, and career services staff to reconceptualize career success with attention to students’ community commitments connected to their racial and class identities.

Author

• Joyce Kim, University of Pennsylvania