She Was Like, "Well, Figure It Out!" Social Class and Parental Involvement in College Major Decisions

• In Event: 525 - Regular Session. Inequality and Diversity in Higher Education

Abstract

Existing research has shown social class differences in undergraduate achievement, but we know little about what happens in college students’ daily lives to produce these differences. Drawing upon more than 200 interviews and 800 hours of participant observation at an urban, public comprehensive university, this ethnographic study investigates how 34 undergraduates from different social class backgrounds navigated the academic curriculum to attempt to achieve success. This paper focuses particularly on the role of parents in undergraduates’ major decisions and finds that social class differences in parental involvement were consequential for students’ decision-making processes and subsequent engagement and achievement. This research offers new insights into the ways the transmission of advantage from parent to child continues into adulthood.

Author

• April Yee, University of Pennsylvania