Elite Averse: College Guidance in Working-Class High Schools

• In Event: New Approaches to Studying Cultural Capital

Abstract

Researchers attribute the underrepresentation of low-SES students in elite colleges, in part, to a lack of “college-going culture” in low-SES high schools (Roderick et al. 2011). Existing research emphasizes the quantity of college guidance, rather than its content. However, preparing for elite college admissions differs from preparing for non-selective college admissions. In this paper, I examine the college guidance and support received by high-achieving low-SES students in two high schools. I consider whether teachers and counselors prepared students for enrollment in an elite college.

Social reproduction theory asserts that the rules of engagement in schools reflect the social and cultural norms of the dominant social group (e.g. upper and upper middle class). Compared to middle class students, those from low-SES families have fewer opportunities to develop the social and cultural skills that provide educational advantages (Lareau 2011; Calarco 2014). Most research in the social reproduction tradition presumes that teachers represent middle class culture. However, teachers come from a variety of social class backgrounds and may vary in their cultural skills and dispositions. For example, educators may differ in their experience with elite colleges. Moreover, while studies show that educators in top-tier high schools prioritize elite college preparation for high achieving upper middle class students, we know less about college guidance provided by teachers in low-SES schools (Weis et al. 2014).

This paper analyzes data from a two-year qualitative study in two selective admission public high schools in a large Northeastern school district. The schools served predominately low-SES students with strong academic records. Data collection included forty-two student interviews and fifteen interviews with school staff, as well as observation in counselors’ offices and classrooms.

I show that educators at both schools expressed doubt to students about the desirability of an elite college education. Because of their concerns about debt, and misinformation about financial aid, teachers actively deterred students from applying to any private institution. Most teachers had attended non-selective colleges and were unaware of the importance of taking high-level courses, such as calculus, for admission to some colleges. As such, teachers discouraged students from taking potentially stress inducing high-level courses.

These findings suggest that educators’ educational background may influence students’ college preparation and choice. While families play the predominant role in shaping students’ cultural skills and dispositions, educators may also contribute to this process.

References
Calarco, Jessica. 2014. “Coached for the Classroom: Parents’ Cultural Transmission and Children’s Reproduction of Educational Inequalities.” American Sociological Review:1-20.
Lareau, Annette. 2011. Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Second Edition with an Update a Decade Later. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Roderick, M., V. Coca, and J. Nagaoka. 2011. “Potholes on the Road to College: High School Effects in Shaping Urban Students’ Participation in College Application, Four-Year College Enrollment, and College Match.” Sociology of Education 84(3):178–211.
Weis, Lois, Kristin Cipollone, and Heather Jenkins. 2014. Class Warfare: Class, Race, and College Admissions in Top-Tier Secondary Schools. Chicago; London: University Of Chicago Press.

Author

• Shani Adia Evans, Research for Action