This study intends to better understand the experiences of poor and working-class undergraduate college students who are enrolled full-time at state flagship universities and who hold on-campus leadership positions within high-intensity student organizations. This study explores how poor and working-class students come to high-intensity…

Many blue-collar jobs, most of which are performed by men, are likely to be displaced by automation. These workers will, therefore, need to be retrained and reskilled, many of them choosing for engineering education as mature students. This paper uses Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to draw a complex portrait of the experience of…

This book examines the structural and cultural factors that explain the persistence of an attainment gap between white and Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students in UK universities. So-called 'deficit' approaches have long represented the orthodoxy in higher education strategy-making, yet they overlook the structural and institutional…

Cultural Mismatch Theory (CMT) has emerged as a paradigm to account for the disparate experiences and outcomes of first-generation students (FGSs). Past research on CMT demonstrate how social class disposition can shape cultural mismatch among FGSs; however, the sole focus on social class sacrifices attention to other social markers of…

This study examined how working-class male students perceive their experiences during the first semester at a community college in order to identify strategies they employ to overcome challenges and achieve academic success. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven working-class male students who persisted to at least a second semester…

Scholars have argued that there is a silence related to social class status in educational literature. Consequently, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to develop an understanding of the educational experiences of working-class African American women doctoral students at predominantly White institutions and what factors influence their…

This study uses a testimonios research methodology to explore the familial origins of educational resilience and to report on the entering into the culture of college by four brothers in a Latin@ family, all of whom earned advanced degrees and pursued careers in psychology, medicine, literature, and law. In addition, LatCrit, a theoretical…

This study examined the associations among racial identity beliefs (centrality and public regard), racial discrimination, and academic engagement outcomes among 1,659 African American adolescents across two demographically distinct school districts, one predominantly Black, working class (n = 1,100) and one predominantly White, middle class (n =…

Pervasive socio-economic differences in relation to participation in higher education in the United Kingdom are particularly prominent in the most prestigious institutions. This study provides insight into why some individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds are successful in being admitted into one of these institutions. Underpinned by…

This essay addresses persistence and success of an underrepresented group enrolled in college who are white, working-class first-generation students. The discussion examines these college students and the challenges they face. The discussion analyzes why first-generation college students persist while others do not. Additionally, the discussion…

Social class is a major determining factor of people's life chances. Much sociology-based research shows that socio-economic position is still one of the best predictors of who will achieve success, prosperity and social status and, in particular, who will enjoy the highest levels of educational outcomes. Survey data and qualitative studies alike…

In 2008, Denise Bradley and colleagues published their "Review of Australian Higher Education." A key point of the Bradley Review was to highlight the long-standing under-representation of working-class people at Australia's universities. Working-class people represent 25% of Australia's general population; however, they represent only…

Several societies throughout the global North and South are now witnessing unprecedented patterns of marginally higher female academic performance and educational attainment. But the processes that have generated such patterns and responses to their development have not been uniform across or within these societies. In multiracial Fiji, statistics…

How do you teach the humanities to working class students living in the shadow of a BP oil refinery? Calumet College uses freshman learning communities that link humanities, social justice, and English composition classes to provide a foundation for college success to predominantly first-generation students who are often underprepared for…

This multi-institutional study examines differences between working-class and middle/upper-class students at large, public research universities. Significant differences in factors related to working-class students' social integration (including satisfaction, campus climate, and sense of belonging) and academic integration (including collaborative…