Making do with lost time: The discordant lives of low-income college students

• In Event: 3429 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 11. Higher Education and Mobility

Abstract

Research on low-income students and higher education typically examines the stages of the college going process separately, whether it is the decision to go to college or expectations, or the transition into college and the application process and enrollment, or the experiences of those students once on campus. Little research attempts to connect these different stages and how earlier stages might impact later stages. We argue that for low-income students, the decision to go to college rather than always knowing suggests real alternatives available to these students besides college. This in turn impacts the circumstances under which they apply to college and the ways they think about what college should be. Furthermore, the decision also frames their experiences in college against the possible alternatives making them more susceptible to viewing time in college as being lost time for other opportunities and responsibilities.

Authors

• Karen Jeong Robinson, CSU San Bernardino

• Esther C Kim, University of Southern California