Stay in Your Lane: Student Social Life and the Transition to a Selective Liberal Arts College

• In Event: 2484 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 03. Adjustment and Belonging in Higher Education

Abstract

The changing demographic characteristics of college students in the U.S., with an increasing range of racial and socioeconomic backgrounds on college campuses of all types, present selective liberal arts colleges with a difficult challenge. These institutions have historically relied on high-performing wealthy white students who can afford their high sticker prices. In order to maintain enrollment numbers, however, they are now tasked with recruiting students of color, increasing financial aid awards to allow students from a wider range of social class and racial/ethnic groups to enroll, and, perhaps most importantly, ensuring that these students feel like part of the campus community once they have enrolled. This paper addresses three related questions: how has a particular historically-white selective private institution adapted to serving this wider range of students, how have these adaptations affected the experiences of first-year students on campus, and, more broadly, how are students’ social lives affected by increased diversity on a small campus. I find that students’ initial social groups are largely tight-knit and insular, which is a particular challenge for students of color for whom the few options for social interaction often overlap.

Author

• Brent Harger, Gettysburg College