Peer and Elite Institutional Strategies on Success of Graduated “Doubly Disadvantaged” Alumni Público

Abstract

Low-income students in college environments have lower propensities to succeed and face greater challenges when integrating and navigating elite institutions due to previous schooling and their lack of cultural and social capital. Although there are low-income students who do not succeed within elite college environments, there are students of low-income that do succeed. Therefore, it is relevant to understand the strategies employed by alumni who came into college as low-income, who were also previously not socialized in a private institution, that managed to graduate and succeed within this environment. I expand on previous literature that discusses the challenges of low-income students while also expanding previous strategy frameworks to higher education. I interviewed 18 alumni from “Oakwood” University, an elite institution located in the United States, on their peer and institutional relationships during their four years at the elite university. The sample of alumni employed five strategies (bridging labor, contesting, concealing, acceptance/affirmation, and creating/advocating) that they used to succeed within their college environment. I distinguished these individuals into separate categories and developed a framework of strategy employment based on these categories. Ultimately, I discuss the value of the testimonies collected on the improvement of institutional support for students of low-income and the relevance of student agency when discussing their experiences. This article contributes to previous research with two new models and two new strategies employed by students of low-income in elite institutional spaces.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………….1

II. Theoretical Framework………………………………………………………………………………………...2

a. Experiences of “Doubly Disadvantaged” Low-Income Students…………………….......3

b. Implications of Race in Educational Spaces…………………………………………………………6

III. Methods……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..11

a. Data collection………………………………………………………………………………………………….12

b. Analytical Strategy………………………………………………………………………………………….…14

IV. Findings……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...16

a. Challenges of Low-income Students………………………………………………………………….18

b. Strategies Employed by Alumni…………………….………………………………………………….23

i. Cultural Mainstreamer………………………………………………………………………….24

ii. Cultural Straddler………………………………………………………………………………….25

1. Peer relationships of Cultural Straddlers……………………………………26

2. Institutional relationships of Cultural Straddlers………………………..37

3. Cultural Straddlers- Summary……………………………………………………45

iii. Cultural Preserver………………………………………………………………………………...46

1. Peer relationships of Cultural Preservers…………………………………..47

2. Institutional relationships of Cultural Preservers……………………….51

3. Cultural Preservers- Summary…………………………………………………..53

V. Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..54

VI. References………………………………………………………………………………………………………….60

VII. Appendices………………………………………………………………………………………………………...64

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Sociology
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Education, Sociology of
Palavra-chave	Strategies Low-income Students Higher Education
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Cassidy Puckett, Emory University
Committee Members	Ana Catarina Teixeira, Emory University Irene Browne, Emory University

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