Sunday, December 1, 2013

Research Blog #7: Your Case

Briefly, my "case" is that the structures within the American college system have been set up to ensure those with money come out on top, and those who do not aren't as lucky.  This has been described in multiple texts as the social reproduction theory.  This theory was first proposed by French philosopher Pierre Bourdieu and was touched on in required class reading Paying for the Party as well as a few other of my sources including Creating a Class.  A chief of example of this is described by Mitchell Stevens in Creating a Class, "Even if parents are wise to the system on the day their children are born, their knowledge is of little consequence if it is not matched by the resources required to put it into practice: the means to live in a community with excellent schools, expert college guidance, and student culture with a forward orientation toward college; the time and cash to invest in after-school sports leagues, summer music camps, private tutors, and horizon expanding travel."  The United States "credential" based thinking allows necessary endorsements simply be bought putting the rich at a strong advantage in both the college admissions process and the ensuing job search afterwards.

1 comment:

  1. Bourdieu's "social reproduction theory" is really your frame. A case would be some specific example -- such as the way classes are chosen at private schools (literally creating a class -- or recreating it). Or a case could be the way that lower class students are barred from success.

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