Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
August 2011
Publication Title
American Sociological Association, 106th Annual Meeting
Disciplines
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Sociology | Higher Education | Inequality and Stratification | Other Education | Sociology
Abstract
The most trusted mechanism of upward social mobility is education. One of the surest paths to success is an elite education. Studying class at an elite university is important because of our dependence on this site as a justification of social stratification. Are elite universities truly meritocratic? Based on non-participant observation and in-depth interviews with forty-three students at a highly selective, private university, this article addresses how class, race and gender matter for academic adjustment to an elite university. This research employs non-cognitive assessors to show how class, race and gender matter for academic adjustment at an elite university. Policy implications of this work suggest that normative policy makers should not only be paying attention to the experiences of lower-income and minority students, but should also beware of the disadvantages unique to middle-income and female students at the university level.
Recommended Citation
Megan Thiele. "Class, Race, Gender and the Elite University: A Noncognitive Assessment of Academic Adjustment" American Sociological Association, 106th Annual Meeting (2011).
Included in
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Higher Education Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Other Education Commons
