Browsing by Subject "Social class"
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Item Open Access Dealing with Racism: Black Middle-Class Health in the 21st Century(2018) Tavares, CarlosThere is widespread evidence that health disparities between whites and blacks in the U.S. cannot be fully explained by inter-group socioeconomic differences. Further, research shows that racism plays a significant role in explaining racial health disparities. However, there is less research that attends to what psychosocial and socioeconomic resources may be protective of black middle-class health over time. My research starts to fill this gap by examining whether racial identity and childhood socioeconomic status are protective of black health over time.
In Chapter 2, I use data from the American Changing Lives Study (ACL) and examine whether a strong racial identity is a protective mechanism in the relationship between racism and two health outcomes: self-rated health and depressive symptoms. My findings suggest that whether racial identity is protective depends on the health outcome and the frequency of racism respondents experience. My results also indicate that middle-class is not consistently a protective factor for black health.
In Chapter 3, I use data from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) and the ACL to investigate whether childhood socioeconomic status is associated with adult health for blacks, and particularly black women. I argue that relative childhood socioeconomic advantage is more important for disadvantaged race and race/gender groups. Further, using an intersectional approach, I argue that it is most important for black women. My findings indicate that the association of childhood socioeconomic status and adult health is significant for blacks, but not whites. I also find that childhood socioeconomic status is especially important for black women.
Item Open Access Essays on the Structural and Cultural Determinants of Youths' Postsecondary Educational Outcomes(2020) Bumpus, John PExamining how structural and cultural factors shape postsecondary educational outcomes is at the heart of sociological research in education. However, although there has been a rich history in exploring these sociological concepts in education, many fundamental questions remain unanswered. Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS), this study extends existing research in the sociology of education by addressing two research questions that relate to how social structure and culture predict youths’ future postsecondary educational outcomes.
Pertaining to structural explanations of educational outcomes, I examine the first research question: do black youth benefit less from increases in their parents’ social class status on their college enrollment and educational attainment. Classic and contemporary studies show greater social class status is associated with higher levels of education for youth. However, racialized processes might constrain the benefits blacks receive from increases in parents’ social class. Therefore, I analyze whether race moderates the relationship between youths’ social class status during high school and two measures of postsecondary educational outcomes: (1) college enrollment two years post-high school and (2) educational attainment eight years post-high school. Results suggest black youth receive lower benefits from social class than whites for both outcomes, and parents’ gender plays a role in the racial differences in the link between social class and both outcomes.
Pertaining to cultural explanations of educational outcomes, I examine the second research question: does within-school variation in school culture during high school predict future college enrollment. Although many studies examine the role school culture—measured as the within-school average in schooling behaviors or beliefs—plays in shaping high school students’ decisions to attend college, few studies investigate how within-school variation in culture predicts college enrollment. Therefore, I analyze whether an association exists between college enrollment two years post-high school and within-school variation in school culture. Results suggest that students in public and private schools are less likely to enroll in college after attending a high school with greater within-school variation in culture. Results from this research question combined with the results of the first research question have implications for the study of structural and cultural factors in education research.
Item Open Access Social Class and Elite University Education: A Bourdieusian Analysis(2010) Martin, Nathan DouglasThe United States experienced a tremendous expansion of higher education after the Second World War. However, this expansion has not led to a substantial reduction to class inequalities at elite universities, where the admissions process is growing even more selective. In his classic studies of French education and society, Pierre Bourdieu explains how schools can contribute to the maintenance and reproduction of class inequalities. Bourdieu's concepts have stimulated much research in American sociology. However, quantitative applications have underappreciated important concepts and aspects of Bourdieu's theory and have generally ignored college life and achievement. With detailed survey and institutional data of students at elite, private universities, this dissertation addresses a gap in the literature with an underexplored theoretical approach.
First, I examine the class structure of elite universities. I argue that latent clustering analysis improves on Bourdieu's statistical approach, as well as locates class fractions that conventional schemas fail to appreciate. Nearly half of students have dominant class origins, including three fractions - professionals, executives and precarious professionals - that are distinguishable by the volume and composition of cultural and economic capital. Working class students remain severely underrepresented at elite, private universities. Second, I explore two types of social capital on an elite university campus. In its practical or immediate state, social capital exists as the resources embedded in networks. I explore the effects of extensive campus networks, and find that investments in social capital facilitate college achievement and pathways to professional careers. As an example of institutionalized social capital, legacies benefit from an admissions preference for applicants with family alumni ties. Legacies show a distinct profile of high levels of economic and cultural capital, but lower than expected achievement. Legacies activate their social capital across the college years, from college admissions to the prevalent use of personal contacts for plans after graduation.
Third, I examine how social class affects achievement and campus life across the college years, and the extent to which cultural capital mediates the link between class and academic outcomes. From first semester grades to graduation honors, professional and middle class students have higher levels of achievement in comparison to executive or subordinate class students. The enduring executive-professional gap suggests contrasting academic orientations for two dominant class fractions, while the underperformance of subordinate class students is due to differences in financial support, a human capital deficit early in college, and unequal access to "collegiate" cultural capital. Collegiate capital includes the implicit knowledge that facilitates academic success and encourages a satisfying college experience. Subordinate class students are less likely to participate in many popular aspects of elite campus life, including fraternity or sorority membership, study abroad, and drinking alcohol. Additionally, two common activities among postsecondary students - participating in social and recreational activities and changing a major field early in college - are uniquely troublesome for subordinate class students. Overall, I conclude that Bourdieu provides a unique and useful perspective for understanding educational inequalities at elite universities in the United States.