The Interactive Relationship Between Class Identity and the College Experience: The Case of Lower Income Students

Elizabeth Aries and Maynard Seider

This article detailed the authors research into how class -based aspects of identity can shape the college experience of lower income students, and how in turn the college experience influences the class-based aspects of their identity. 30 lower income students were

interviewed: 15 attended an elite college labelled Little Ivy in the text, and 15 attended a state college.

The college experience differed noticeably for those who attended the elite, Little Ivy college, from those who attended State College. Due to class differences, Little Ivy students

evidenced feelings of intimidation, discomfort, inadequacy, and deficiency. Such feelings were greater for first generation Little Ivy students. The students displayed roughly similar feelings of exclusion and powerlessness regardless of the educational background of their parents. Unlike the Little Ivy students, the State College students were not surrounded by highly affluent students, so class-based differences did not generally seem significant to them. While some students did speak of interactions with more affluent students that made them aware of being judged as less adequate, for the most part they had less reason to feel excluded and intimidated, and never mentioned feeling powerless. From this, the authors concluded that disparities of wealth between students at the prestigious, Little Ivy college heightened awareness of social class, whereas greater equality in class backgrounds at the state college made class appear less salient.

New Forms of Capital that Lower Income Students Develop at College

Since coming to college, many Little Ivy students described changes that had occurred in their language, dress, and behaviour, in their self-confidence and self-respect, and in their understanding of their position in the world. They adopted aspects of speech, attire and behaviour more commonly associated with the middle and upper classes. Such changes were in part motivated by students desires to win acceptance in a new environment. The

acquisition of middle class cultural capital was accompanied by increased self-confidence and self-respect and diminished feelings of difference, inadequacy and exclusion. Some students recognised that their academic talents measured up to that of the affluent students and several felt they now inhabited a new position in relation to the world around them. In comparison, the State College sample had less to say about the acquisition of new forms of cultural capital such as language, dress or behaviour. They made no explicit statements about increased self-confidence and self-respect. The authors note, however, that such feelings were implied in their statements. Class-Based Discontinuity Both sample groups struggled with class-based discontinuities between their pre-college identities and their evolving identities. These issues were heightened for the Little Ivy students who had moved further from home, and whose anticipated college degrees put them on a trajectory for greater upward mobility. A number of students said it was hard to maintain connections with family and friends at home. The acquisition of middle class cultural capital and the educational opportunity changed their perceptions of the world and their place in it. They developed new priorities, perspectives, values, and greater engagement with an intellectual world. For some students it was difficult to bring these new aspects of themselves into their old relationships. A number of Little Ivy students struggled with avoiding judgments of those they had left behind and over feelings of betrayal. New opportunities have opened up to them, and some would no longer consider following their parents footsteps in the occupational world. Lower income students used a number of strategies to cope with the conflict between former and newly acquired aspects of self as they moved between home and college. Some students coped by compartmentalizing different parts of their selves, by using different modes of speech in each setting, or by focussing on different topics of conversation. Doing so allowed them to manage the tensions between past and present aspects of self, and appeared to be carried out unconsciously. The State College students talked less of difficulties in bridging the gap between home and school than did the Little Ivy students. The state college students living on campus lived closer to home than the Little Ivy students, and so remained more connected to their childhood friends. Most did not speak of a new social distance from friends at home.

Reaffirmation of class-based aspects of self For the Little Ivy students, just because they were members of a low-status group did not necessarily lead to lowered feelings of self-worth or lack of pride in their class backgrounds. Although they did take on aspects of middle class culture, they still expressed pride and gratitude for the character traits they attributed to their class experience: they had become independent and self-reliant, had learned to appreciate things because they had been given less, and they felt their class background allowed them the ability to understand, relate to and empathize with a broad range of individuals, such as those working minimum wage jobs, qualities they believed some of the affluent students lacked. In contrast, class seemed less salient to the state college students. They expressed an acceptance of their class position, and pride in the character traits it had given them, but their pride derived from comparing themselves with a generalized concept of other classes. In the State College environment, they rarely encountered the material resources and lifestyles of upper-middle class and upper class students. As a consequence, for most State College students, social class was less important to their identities. Conclusions This comparison of elite and state college lower income students demonstrates the importance of social context in shaping the class-based experience of identity and in understanding the meaning that cultural capital may have for individuals. It is important to look at both economic and cultural capital when analysing social class in a college setting. Simply differentiating students by family income or parental collar ignores the attitudes, skills, and levels of confidence that distinguish adolescents within similar income brackets. The Little Ivy students initially felt they lacked the cultural capital the more affluent students exhibited upon entry to college. Cultural capital in this instance was more than just a matter of taste, but also skills and abilities. Students felt they did not possess the right linguistic skills, know the proper forms of dress, or know how to act in certain social situations. Acquisition of new cultural capital enabled students to overcome these feelings of intimidation, inadequacy and powerlessness and develop new identities. At the same time, the college experience also led to a reaffirmation of pride in their class-based characteristics and traits that differentiated them from the affluent students. In this way, social class became a more salient aspect of their identities.