IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v11y2022i11p500-d958627.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategically Unequal: How Class, Culture, and Institutional Context Shape Academic Strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Mary L. Scherer

    (Department of Sociology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341, USA)

Abstract

When facing common setbacks like a missed due date or low assignment grade, some students take action to change the outcome while others do not. This study compares academic strategies by social class and across institutional context through interviews with working- and upper-middle-class students at a public regional and flagship university. Academic strategies are based on parentally-transmitted skills and knowledge as well as class-cultural norms of selfhood and the meaning of being a student. At the flagship, class-privileged students negotiated grades and deadlines using strategies rooted in a sense of entitlement and norms of individualism and self-exceptionalism, whereas working-class students’ norms of interdependence and compliance inhibited negotiation, reproducing existing inequalities. Institutional context mediated this effect: at the regional, both groups requested flexibility but did not (successfully) contest grades, minimizing class-privileged students’ advantage. Organizational habitus explains why academic strategies differed and were more or less likely to reproduce inequality at each university.

Suggested Citation

  • Mary L. Scherer, 2022. "Strategically Unequal: How Class, Culture, and Institutional Context Shape Academic Strategies," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-18, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:11:p:500-:d:958627
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/11/500/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/11/500/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Irenee R. Beattie & Megan Thiele, 2016. "Connecting in Class? College Class Size and Inequality in Academic Social Capital," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 87(3), pages 332-362, May.
    2. Amy E. Stich, 2018. "Stratification with Honors: A Case Study of the “High” Track within United States Higher Education," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-17, September.
    3. April Yee, 2016. "The Unwritten Rules of Engagement: Social Class Differences in Undergraduates' Academic Strategies," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 87(6), pages 831-858, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ágnes Lukács J. & Beáta Dávid, 2019. "Roma Undergraduates’ Personal Network in the Process of College Transition. A Social Capital Approach," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(1), pages 64-82, February.
    2. Élisabeth Tovar & Matthieu Bunel, 2021. "Attitudes on past-in-present educational discrimination. Insights from a representative factorial survey," EconomiX Working Papers 2021-28, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    3. Ozan Jaquette & Bradley R. Curs, 2023. "Enrollment Growth and Faculty Hiring at Public Research Universities," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(3), pages 349-378, May.
    4. Kevin P. Belanger & Angela K. Dills & Rey Hernández-Julián & Kurt W. Rotthoff, 2019. "Class Size, Course Spacing, and Academic Outcomes," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 301-320, April.
    5. Michael Gove, 2019. "Student engagement and larger class enrollments: evidence from a growing mid-sized university," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(4), pages 2550-2565.
    6. Annie M. Wofford, 2022. "The Perpetuation of Privilege: Exploring the Relationship Between Early Admissions and High-Impact Practices," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(8), pages 1312-1342, December.
    7. Jarno Einolander & Hannu Vanharanta & Magdalena Madra-Sawicka & Joanna Paliszkiewicz & Jussi Kantola & Piotr Pietrzak, 2021. "Evaluating and Profiling Student Engagement and Motivation at a Higher Education Institution," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 5), pages 610-625.
    8. Skobba, Kim & Meyers, David & Tiller, Lori, 2018. "Getting by and getting ahead: Social capital and transition to college among homeless and foster youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 198-206.
    9. Rod Missaghian, 2021. "Social Capital and Post-Secondary Decision-Making Alignment for Low-Income Students," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-18, March.
    10. Oriol Pons & Jordi Franquesa & S. M. Amin Hosseini, 2019. "Integrated Value Model to Assess the Sustainability of Active Learning Activities and Strategies in Architecture Lectures for Large Groups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-19, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:11:p:500-:d:958627. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.