This study investigated how the upwardly mobile trajectories of working class, Mexican-origin students differed based on the selectivity of the school they attended as well as the community in which that school was located. Although working-class students often view a four-year college degree as a vehicle towards upward mobility, existing studies gravitate towards studying the upwardly mobile experiences of students enrolled in elite or highly selective universities where working class and racial-ethnic minority students are commonly underrepresented.  Moreover, with few exceptions, previous studies overlook the role that racial-ethnic background plays in shaping students’ social class experiences.

Using semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this study generated three forms of data: 60 interviews with Mexican-origin, working-class students, 25 interviews with faculty and staff across two universities and field notes collected during a 6-month observation period. Thirty student study respondents attended a selective institution located in an urban, middle-class metropolis. Their co-ethnic counterparts, however (comprising the remaining half of the study sample), attended a less competitive university situated in the local community. All 60 student respondents grew up in the same working class geographical region. The Co-PI also performed extensive observations as she shadowed eight of the original student interview participants. These students were each observed for a two-week period when they attended class, student organization meetings and/or other academic appointments on campus.  

Intellectual Merit: Findings reveal that key institutional processes, such as course instruction, leadership development opportunities and organizational cultural offerings challenged students to alter discourse techniques and lifestyle patterns to a greater extent in the selective institution than in the less competitive, regional institution. In this way, the selective university valorized class-based skill sets that are common among mainstream, middle-class cultures. The selective university, however, sidelined cultural characteristics associated with study respondents’ working class, racial-ethnic cultures. Students attending the regional university on the other hand, experienced their working class, racial-ethnic culture as more dominant in the university but experienced elements of mainstream, middle-class cultures in sidelined ways. I argue that an increasingly stratified system of higher education plays a crucial role in not simply shaping but also fragmenting middle-class cultures. Even though students may view their college degree as a ticket for higher occupational earnings, whether they develop the skills to be competitive for middle-class occupations largely varies based on the type of institution they attend. Moreover, because class-based processes reflected the cultural characteristics of specific racial-ethnic groups, this study challenges mainstream interpretations of a dominant, middle-class culture.

Broader Impacts: In an effort to assist universities as they accommodate a rising number of low-income and racial-ethnic minority students, study findings have been shared in a range of public settings. Study analyses were presented at the 2018 American Sociological Association annual meeting as well as in campus gatherings and workshops in one university. The Co-PI intends to further share study findings with both of the institutions profiled in the study, with other interested higher education institutions, as well as with officials in the community where all study respondents spent their formative adolescent years.  Moreover, the Co-PI will also publish select components of the study in scholarly journals and feature a more comprehensive study assessment in a book. Finally, published reports will also be made available to study participants who express an interest in the study’s conclusions.

Last Modified: 03/27/2019
Modified by: Alma Nidia Garza