College integration and social class

Abstract

What is the impact of social class on college integration? Higher education institutions are becoming more diverse, yet the integration of underprivileged students remains a challenge. Using a social network approach, we analyze the general integration of low socioeconomic status (SES) students, as well as how segregated by class these friends are. The object of analysis is the extreme case of an elite university that, based on a government loan program (Ser Pilo Paga), opened its doors to many low-SES students in a very unequal country, Colombia. Using a mixed methods perspective, including a survey, 61 in depth interviews, and ethnographic observation, we analyze friendship networks and their meanings, barriers, and facilitators. Contrary to the literature, we find that low-SES students had, on average, the same number of connections and were no more isolated than students from upper social classes. Also, low-SES students’ networks were not more segregated, even if relations with the upper classes were less likely and required more relational work than with middle or lower class friends. This high level of social integration stemmed from the intense relational work that low-SES students engage in, so as to fit in. Middle class friends act as a catalyst that can enable cross-class friendships.

The relational costs of crossing class lines

“…Luckily, for the average fellowship student, their extra effort paid off. On average, and contrary to the literature that predicts their isolation, fellowship students were as popular as other types of classmates by their second semester both according to this qualitative fieldwork and other more quantitative network study (Álvarez-Rivadulla et al, 2022). Isolation cases were very rare.…”

Movilidad social en la educación: el caso de la universidad de los andes en Colombia entre 1949 y 2018

“…La sobrerrepresentación de estudiantes de grupos de élite, junto a la casi completa ausencia de las minorías étnicas, señala la importancia de promover programas que aumenten la diversidad y la inclusión en las instituciones educativas para asegurar un acceso equitativo a oportunidades para todos los estudiantes. Investigaciones recientes de movilidad social en el sistema educativo muestran que el programa Ser Pilo Paga aumentó la inclusión e integración de estudiantes de diversas clases sociales en las universidades de élite, a pesar de que los costos de integración los asumen los estudiantes de nivel socioeconómico bajo (Álvarez-Rivadulla et al, 2022;Álvarez-Rivadulla et al, 2023). Otros artículos también han señalado la rápida movilidad social de los beneficiarios de este programa y los efectos generalmente positivos en diferentes universidades de élite del país (Londoño-Vélez, J. et al, 2020;Meisel y Granger, 2023).…”

Comparative Analysis of Professional-Value Attitudes of the Youth in Russia and Kazakhstan in Education

“…Такие исследования сосредотачивают внимание на соци ально-эко но ми че ских факторах -семье, сверстниках, сообществах, социальных сетях, занятости, местах проживания и средствах массовой информации, оказывающих влияние на выбор. Так, зарубежные исследователи изучают влияние социального класса на доступность образования [27], возможность получения высшего образования в разрезе социально-экономического статуса семьи [28], анализируют значимость социального медиа на академические успехи 4 .…”