Camp Harvard? The Official Extracurriculum at an Elite College

• In Event: 3429 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 14. Higher Education: Selective Institutions

Abstract

Studies of childhood and adolescence for privileged young Americans show that their lives outside of school are filled with extracurricular activities, and that this participation is enabled and encouraged by parents and schools. To what extent do extracurricular participation, and social structures that spur and support it, extend into college? To help answer these questions, this paper reports on a mixed-methods case study of official extracurricular life at Harvard College. Survey data from Harvard undergraduates reveal that—across demographic groups—participation in Harvard’s official extracurriculum is an intensive, pervasive, and central part of student life. Qualitative data from interview respondents reveal four distinct ways the university fosters this participation. These institutional processes push students to develop unique, driven, “authentic” selves through their extracurricular commitments. The Harvard case suggests that personal cultivation through extracurriculars has become a defining part of campus life at elite US colleges.

Author

• Tom Wooten, Harvard University