“Amongst Wilted Flowers, a Lone Rose Blooms”: Exploring Social Class in Study Abroad (Poster 11)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 3:20 p.m.
  In Poster Session: Division G: Section 2 Poster Session

Abstract

Social class is often an underexplored construct in education when investigating identity. Drawing from Bourdieu’s (1984) notions of capital, this study explores U.S. college students’ perceived notions and experiences of social class through identity journey mapping in a study abroad program. Participants were U.S. college students (n=22) from the US Midwest who taught English as a foreign language at Korean high schools for six weeks during the summers of 2023 and 2024. The findings included a sense of disorientation, trauma, perseverance, and increased self-awareness about social class that participants experienced before and during study abroad. Understanding the role of social class in study abroad is important in developing policies and practices that renew more just and inclusive educational possibilities.

Authors

• Hyesun Cho, University of Kansas

• Josh Hayes, University of Kansas