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education

First in the Family: Social Mobility as a
First Generation College Student

May 1, 2016 by Vivianna Lee Alvarez 2 Comments

As the first in my family to pursue a college degree, I have found challenges in navigating the privileges and isolation encompassed in the system of higher education. Both of my parents moved to the United States in the late 1980s – my mother from Hong Kong, China and my father from Monterrey, Mexico. Neither […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class in Higher Education Tagged With: academia, education, first generation college students, middle class, poverty, working class

Finding My Place in Academia as a First-Gen

May 1, 2016 by Kenneth Lambert Jr Leave a Comment

As the first in my family to attend college and to go on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees, I have definitely struggled to find my place in the world of academia, the class system of higher education, and to understand the worth of my experience. As a child of mixed Caucasian and Native American […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class in Higher Education, First Generation College Students, Internalized classism Tagged With: academia, classism, education, first generation college students, poverty

At What Price Common Core? 

April 15, 2016 by Karen Juall Leave a Comment

In the Kindergarten Classroom For decades, five-year-olds have been entering kindergarten with varying levels of academic proficiency. Some might be able to read. Others may know most of the alphabet, letter sounds and numbers. Children with these skills are usually ready to learn in the kindergarten setting on day one. However, there are plenty of […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Classism in K-12 Education Tagged With: classism, early childhood education, education, low-wage jobs, public school, working class

African Americans and Classism:

February 29, 2016 by Class Action 2 Comments

It’s Complicated When I started this post, I thought it would be a straight-forward musing on classism on and in African-American communities. A few minutes in, and I found that I didn’t know where to start. Should I write about the devastating effect that the intersectionality of classism and racism has on individuals and communities? Should I […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class cultures, Class prejudice, Classism, Dealing with privilege Tagged With: classism, education, intersectionality, middle class, privilege, race and class, racism, stereotypes

To Advisors of First Gen Students: Tell the Truth

September 14, 2015 by Sheltreese McCoy Leave a Comment

I can still vividly remember my first days on campus as a first generation, first gen, college student. How lush and expansive if felt in comparison to the slums of Cleveland. This was a whole new world literally, and I was new in it. I had made it from poverty to the rolling lawns and […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Class in Higher Education, First Generation College Students, LGBT & Class, Poverty Tagged With: academia, classism, education, first generation college students

3 Things to Keep In Mind as a Non-First Gen or Low-Income Student Leader

September 14, 2015 by Isabel Staccuneddu Leave a Comment

I dedicated the last two weeks this past summer to being a student leader for the incoming class of 2019. I’m an academic peer tutor, meaning that I serve as a residence-hall-based resource who fosters academic and personal well-being in the hall. As a low-income, first gen college student, I noticed that the standard summer […]

Filed Under: Class in Higher Education, Classism, Classism in Everyday Life, First Generation College Students Tagged With: academia, classism, education, first generation college students, privilege

On Being an Other

April 2, 2015 by Melissa Martinez Leave a Comment

“I don’t want to sound stupid or anything,” said my aunt as she made a remark about the weather being cold, but not as cold as in Massachusetts. I noticed how she quickly grazed her eyes in my direction before letting them drop when our eyes met. Lately, I felt as though many of my […]

Filed Under: First Generation College Students Tagged With: academia, class cultures, education, family, first generation college students, race

“Bring Enough for Everyone”: What We Lose When We Lose Public Education

January 21, 2014 by Lita Kurth Leave a Comment

Did your schoolteachers say, “Don’t bring [candy, toys, coveted items] to school unless you bring enough for everyone”? Mine did. Maybe they recognized how incapable children are of understanding the fundamental injustice of wealth inequality, of some people having immensely desirable things that for some reason cannot be attained by others. Those who endured segregation […]

Filed Under: Classism in K-12 Education Tagged With: education, kids, public school

Philly School Crisis Meets Pushback

August 15, 2013 by Maynard Seider 1 Comment

While a group of determined teachers, parents and community activists rallied a small crowd in front of South Philadelphia High School on a rainy weekday, the powers-that-be in City Hall, Harrisburg and D.C. did nothing to avert an educational crisis that awaits 150,000 mostly poor and working-class students when school is due to open in […]

Filed Under: Classism in K-12 Education, Labor movement, Politics and Class Tagged With: budget cuts, education, protest, public school, public services, union-bashing

The Ivy League: a class-based sorting system

April 9, 2013 by Jay Mahin 1 Comment

Barack Obama’s election represented a triumph for African Americans who suffered years of race- and class-based oppression. Electing a black president was definitely a plus for African Americans and society as a whole. Among his opponents in 2008 were working class whites who were attracted to Sarah Palin. Many of these people seem to fit […]

Filed Under: Class in Higher Education, Classism in the Economy, Race and Class Tagged With: classism, education, privilege, the Ivy League, white working class

Student Leaders Lobby for Affordable Education

February 18, 2013 by Ruzielle Ganuelas Leave a Comment

Emily Dickinson once wrote, “why not have a big life?” These are the words I kept close to heart when I joined the Seattle Education Access (SEA) staff and my fellow members of the SEA Student Advisory Board Council for the SEA Lobby Day. I had never been to the State Capitol, and the closest […]

Filed Under: Class in Higher Education, Classism, First Generation College Students, Politics and Class Tagged With: activism, education, financial aid, first generation college students, immigrants, speaking up

A story of crossing the tracks

December 11, 2012 by Celeste Harmer 6 Comments

I was born and raised in working-class Philadelphia.  Growing up I did not see myself as an underrepresented and repressed segment of society.  Certainly I saw that there were those who had more money and material goods than I did, but it was not something I dwelled on.  This was because everyone I knew was […]

Filed Under: Class in Higher Education, Classism in Everyday Life Tagged With: academia, classism, education, first generation college students, snobs, working class

A Small Fish in a Big Pond

October 31, 2012 by Ha Nguyen 3 Comments

Junior year of high school, I was informed, was the most crucial one in laying out the roadway towards college. As one who was raised to never even consider not going to college, I was looking forward to engaging in the preparation for higher education. From an early age, I knew that the public school […]

Filed Under: Class in Higher Education, Classism in K-12 Education, First Generation College Students Tagged With: academia, education, first generation college students, public school

Shame, School Lunch, and Passing

August 20, 2012 by Lita Kurth 9 Comments

When I was in sixth grade, my family was eligible for free school lunches. I attended a small country school, without much class diversity, mostly farmers, some without indoor toilets in their homes. Even so, when I gave my lunch ticket to the student appointed to collect them, I noticed and she noticed that there […]

Filed Under: Class and Disability, Class cultures, Classism among Kids, Classism in Everyday Life, Classism in K-12 Education, Classism in social services, Money, Poverty Tagged With: California Schools, charity, education, entitlement programs, Helping the Poor, kids, money, poverty, public school, public services, School Lunch Program, stigma

The Dreams of Poor and Working-Class Students

May 14, 2012 by Jane Van Galen 2 Comments

I was half-listening to the radio last week when I heard an interviewer ask a question that made me pause in my work to listen.   “So”, the interviewer warmly asked, “You knew even as a small child that you wanted to be a concert cellist?”  “Oh yes”, the woman answered. “Since I was eight.” I’ve […]

Filed Under: Class in Higher Education, Classism among Kids, Classism in K-12 Education, First Generation College Students Tagged With: academia, classism, education, first generation college students, social capital, working class

Going on Trial to Prove I Belong

March 8, 2012 by Adj Marshall 1 Comment

Soon after arriving on campus as a freshman I found myself navigating the long hallways of college almost furtively, quietly darting between the large archways of the turn-of-the-century building, afraid to cause a stir lest I be told that my acceptance to this institution had all been a mistake and could at any point be […]

Filed Under: Class in Higher Education, Classism, First Generation College Students Tagged With: education, first generation college students, money

The anger of a first-generation student

January 30, 2012 by Emily Loftis

Growing up, my parents always told me that I could be and do whatever I wanted. I always believed them, but what I was never told was how angry I’d feel every day of my life. No one told me about the anger I’d feel when 90% of my class raises their hand when the […]

Filed Under: Class in Higher Education, Classism in Everyday Life, First Generation College Students Tagged With: bullying, classism, education, first generation college students, snobs

Overlooking luck

January 23, 2012 by Emily Loftis Leave a Comment

Can someone please explain to Newt Gingrich that people not wanting a job typically doesn’t cause poverty; being unable to get a job causes poverty.  I would strongly assert that very few people want to be unable to provide for themselves and their families.  People who have only experienced privilege often do not recognize the […]

Filed Under: Class in Higher Education, Classism in Politics Tagged With: blaming the victim, education, first-generation college students, poverty, privilege, public school, working class

Schooling the system of privilege

October 1, 2011 by Pete Redington 4 Comments

This “back to school” season got me to thinking about my own formal education, and the teachers and professors I’ve known who have or have not used their positions of academic influence to challenge the status quo, especially the economic status quo. The current issue of Boston Review features Noam Chomsky’s essay, “The Responsibility of […]

Filed Under: Class in Higher Education Tagged With: academia, education, speaking up

Remember When It Was Poster Board?: Computer Technologies and School Disadvantage

August 11, 2011 by Paul C. Gorski 8 Comments

Remember when it was the poster board? I do. I remember my elementary school classmates—Russell, Missy, Jake—who could never afford it, who would raise their hands meekly, eyes downcast, when the teacher asked, “Who needs help getting poster board?” I pitied them and wondered what else they couldn’t afford: a pack of National Football League […]

Filed Under: Classism in K-12 Education, Online Classism, Poverty Tagged With: class, computers, digital divide, education, poverty, technology

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