Book chapter
Allison L. Hurst
James E. Côté, Sarah Pickard, 2nd, The Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education, 2022
James E. Côté, Sarah Pickard, 2nd, The Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education, 2022
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APA
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Hurst, A. L. (2022). "The American working-class student experience: Swimming upstream" In J. E. Côté & S. Pickard (Eds.) (2nd ed., Vol. The Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education).
Chicago/Turabian
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Hurst, Allison L. “&Quot;The American Working-Class Student Experience: Swimming Upstream&Quot;” In , edited by James E. Côté and Sarah Pickard. Vol. The Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education. 2nd ed., 2022.
MLA
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Hurst, Allison L. &Quot;The American Working-Class Student Experience: Swimming Upstream&Quot; Edited by James E. Côté and Sarah Pickard, 2nd ed., vol. The Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education, 2022.
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@inbook{allison2022a,
title = {"The American working-class student experience: Swimming upstream"},
year = {2022},
edition = {2nd},
volume = {The Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education},
author = {Hurst, Allison L.},
editor = {Côté, James E. and Pickard, Sarah}
}
This chapter examines the working-class experience in higher education generally, with a particular focus on the experiences of working-class students in American colleges and universities. After a brief discussion on the difficulties of defining and operationalizing this group of students, this chapter distinguishes between research on first-generation students and students from the working class. It then explores several key aspects of the working-class experience. These include feelings of alienation and ambivalence, pressures of social mobility, curricular choices and the avoidance of risk, the increasing weight of economic insecurity, and resistance to middle-class norms and expectations prevalent in higher educational institutions. The chapter concludes with a research agenda for the future and a brief discussion of the importance of higher education for a democratic society.