January 15 - 21, 2021

On June 19, 2020, I made a commitment to educate myself on the lingering effects of racism, discrimination, and bias in America. Every day through June 18, 2021, I will read an article or book chapter, listen to a podcast, watch a movie or documentary, view a webinar, or do something substantive to educate myself in these areas. As part of that commitment, I will post to this blog each Friday with a list of what I've done over the past week as well as any pertinent thoughts or reflections.

Today's post covers the week of January 15-21, 2021.

 

The Privileged Poor 

This week, I read The Privileged Poor by Anthony Abraham Jack. Jack, who is currently an Assistant Professor at Harvard's School of Education, spent three years researching students at a selective university in the Northeast and then published his findings in this book. He is also a graduate of Gulliver Prep in Miami and Amherst College, where he played football.

 

Jack examines the experiences of students at Renowned University (the pseudonym used to protect the confidentiality of his research) along class and racial lines. His findings indicate that the experiences of students in the years leading up to enrollment at Renowned play a big part in their navigation of social and academic spaces as college students.

Jack discovers that students from lower socioeconomic families often have very different experiences at Renowned based on whether or not they attended a private school. Poor public high school students, whom Jack refers to as Doubly Disadvantaged, do not enroll at Renowned equipped with the social skills and vocabulary needed to successfully navigate the university. Understanding terms like "office hours," or feeling comfortable asking for help, for example, is less common among the Doubly Disadvantaged than their classmates. They often are not used to being around wealth and privilege, which creates uncertainty for them in social situations as well.

By contrast, Jack learns that students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who attended private or prep schools often have already accumulated the skills and approach necessary for academic and social success at Renowned. Because they were coached by counselors and faculty in high school on how to be successful in those spaces, and because they had already socialized with wealthier students (and, for students of color, white students), they were better prepared to hit the ground running at Renowned.

Jack unpacks the ways the Privileged Poor and Doubly Disadvantaged share similar experiences and also the way race plays into stereotypes across SES. Both groups shared experience with food insecurities, the violent deaths of friends and family members, and being disowned by their communities for attending an elite university. Students of color also shared instances of discrimination regardless of SES status.

 

Jack examines how Renowned and other universities exacerbate the problems experienced by the Doubly Disadvantaged and Privileged Poor. He looks at work-study issues, spring break room and dining hall closures, and different approaches for distributing benefits or services to the poorest students.

 

Jack concludes that access does not equal inclusion, and that the most selective private universities in the US prematurely stop their work at the admissions office. He recommends that these institutions look closely at the policies, treatment, and support of students once they arrive on campus. The work done in recent years to provide more grants-in-aid to the poorest students doesn't go far enough without the additional support necessary to ensure these students have the opportunity for success after enrollment.

 

To learn more about the book, please note that Anthony Jack will be the featured speaker in the Rice University President's Lecture Series on January 28. You can register for the event here.