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Whether confused about majors, stymied by bureaucracy, crippled by loan debt, or left feeling like they don't belong, working-class men and women have come to see their relationship with college as a broken social contract. As they see it, they bought into the promise of higher education but got nothing but disappointment and loss in return.
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<p>We are pushing too many youths to college who lack the necessary scholastic aptitude. Even if they can get a degree in an easy major at a school with low standards, employers can separate the wheat from the chaff and will not hire such graduates for the white-collar jobs they think a degree will open up for them.</p>
<p>Plenty of kids that have the so called “scholastic aptitude” from first rate colleges have the same problem. Education is good. Education at all costs isn’t. Everyone should go to college, but go cheap. BTW do the little things while you are there. Develop interpersonal and networking skills. It could make the difference between a job and no job.</p>
<p>None of the things mentioned in the quote – confusion about majors, bureaucracy, loan debt, or feeling like they don’t belong – reflects a lack of scholastic aptitude.</p>
<p>A problem I see is that college is often depicted as offering the gold paved streets to a great paying job. I have a friend whose family came here from an former Eastern bloc country in Europe many years ago. They felt they would be living in a land of plenty as the parents had visited the US and were hosted by universities and professors/employees of such universities during their stays here. But when the father was able to take a job offer as a university professor, the family, upon arriving here, had a very tough time acclimating, and the economic were not at all what they expected. They did not slide into the life they had so imagined, and their standard of living and luxury went down from what they had had in the old country. </p>
<p>So getting a degree, though it does increase the opportunities in your life pot, that doesn’t mean that you will necessarily get any of those “chances”. Doesn’t work that way. Eligiblitly for a job doesn’t mean getting one. It’s also the same as getting a higher test score, say, on the SAT. Yes, it means more possibilities, but no guarantee you’ll get one of them. </p>
<p>I have a friend whos DD graduated with much debt both on part of parents and student, from a major university. The major is some liberal arts area, that doesn’t lend itself to any direct skill job, so the student isnt even making enough to pay the loan amounts. This is a source of much bitternes, anger and a feeling of being cheated by all concerned in the family. But really, to have expected any different was unrealistic. It’s just that most families who have expereined this sort of thing know that a philosophy, psychology, poli scie major isn’t going to find a career ladder job with benefits and paying a living wage so easily right out of college, but those who looked at a degree from college, particularly a name college had the wrong expectations.</p>
<p>No. And the fact that anyone here might draw such conclusions suggests that even the financially secure and well-educated sometimes lack basic comprehension skills.</p>
This is what the real issue is, IMHO. I’ve worked with blue-collar coal miner’s daughters (and sons) at the CC level and it’s amazing how intimidated some of them are about seeking out help from professors and staff. One student was terrified of asking a professor for help because she was afraid he would yell at her! In our area, so many kids are brought up to believe that college is a waste of time - you can make better money in the coal mines (or by marrying a miner; there are virtually no women coal miners, for a variety of reasons.) They are told that they are wasting time in school that they could be using to make money, even if it is working fast food or retail. Of the ones who do make it to college, their high school education is often abysmal and they bog down in remedial courses. There was a well-publicized story here a while back about a high school valedictorian who ended up in all remedial classes at a state university. TRIO programs have helped a lot. One of S2’s best friends was in Upward Bound all through high school and is leaving for his freshman year at our state flagship this week. There is help for kids who need to navigate the system, but it usually comes from people other than parents and the kids have to seek it out.</p>
<p>I once had a friend who had an endowed chair at a good research university, but before that he had worked at several elite universities. He said the main difference between our students and the elite students was the ability to go after the degree, knowledge, grade. At the elite schools, for office hours, students would be waiting in a line down the hall. At less elite universities, often no one comes to office hours. </p>
<p>It doesn’t surprise me that the students at CC’s are afraid of faculty and asking for help.</p>
<p>Trio programs are great.
My D was also in College Access Now in high school, just one program that was available, but the only one that was wasn’t restricted to minorities.
It was challenging aiming at college when grandparents aren’t supportive, but my mom was encouraging. Unfortunately she lived just long enough to see oldest graduate from Reed, but didnt get to see her receive her masters degree or see how well our youngest is doing.</p>
<p>What percentage of kids have their parents talking to the principal, tutors helping them study for exams, and get tested for learning disabilities? This sounds like something that only happens at private schools.</p>
<p>I say that coming from an upper-middle class family going to high school in a fairly affluent area. When I took AP classes I can tell you a very large portion of my classmates had parents with PhDs. I’ve still never heard of any of those things.</p>
<p>It happens at public schools too, on a large scale at schools where highly selective school are often the destinations and goals for the majority or a sizeable number of students. Also for families who are so involved, at any school.</p>
<p>I edited my post above. I went to a public school in a very affluent area (Ann Arbor, MI) and I’ve still never hear of it. Sure, maybe there were a few kids who had tutors who I just didn’t know or something, but it certainly wasn’t the norm.</p>
<p>I see much more of our school’s systems resources going to poor performing students than higher achieving students. I am mad because it has had no impact on the performance of the poor performing students. The only changes I have ever seen is when they put a magnet school in a poor performing school and then the school looks like an average achieving school at best. The best part is they give the principle an award for bringing up the stats, when in fact, they just brought in a smarter bunch of kids to the school to bring up the stats. I just shake my head.</p>
<p>I always see these articles about how students are studying the wrong subjects but someone should tell them what to study. As I see it, there are no subjects that guarantee you a job. Not even from a good university or GPA.</p>
<p>Has anyone read Outliers? In the book, the author talks about the difference between upper middle class kids and working class kids, and how these differences affect them as they grow in to adults- upper class kids have this sense of entitlement to them that was instilled by their parents. They’re generally more confident and straightforward, don’t have a problem with asking a teacher questions or arguing over a grade they think they deserve. They have parents who support them taking up various ECs, spending there time studying, and can support their children more financially.</p>
<p>On the other hand, working class kids are on their own. Many working class families don’t have parents who care much about education, and instead encourage kids to work. I don’t remember the particulars, so I encourage people to look up the book for themselves (I thought it was a good read.)</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I’m a upper middle class student, what do I know? Malcolm Gladwell, the author, was also the son of two professionals.</p>
<p>Not all of us who grew up with working class parents had disinterested parents. We were very poor but my parents still read with me every single night and taught me the importance of education. Everything in that article can happen to upper income kids, too. At some point, you have to take responsibility for your actions and not blame your upbringing.</p>
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<p>What a disgusting generalization. I can unequivocally tell you that’s bull, not just from my own family but after two decades of living and working with working class families. </p>
<p>I’m so sick of the myth that parents are neglectful because they are working class and uneducated. Almost like SOME people think they shouldn’t reproduce at all.</p>
<p>Calm down, romani. No one said “parents are neglectful because they are working class and uneducated.” But there are social differences in advocacy. It’s not just my observation, but it’s the observation of those who are in the trenches, that often what separates upper middle from working class is that upper middle class people think nothing of asking that the rules be broken for them. *Can I get an extension? Can I change after this date? Can I substitute this required class for this one? * under the assumption that - it never hurts to ask, the worst that happens is that you hear a no. And those in other socioeconomic classes may be more intimidated by systems and those who they believe have greater power and thus not think to ask. I hate to bring up Deserewieciz (sp?) but he does articulate some of this. This is a real social science phenomenon. It’s not just made up. It’s part of social capital.</p>