Date of Thesis
2011
Description
While national leaders have joined the discussion more recently, scholars in the fields of education, psychology, and sociology, have been exploring the ways in which students? socioeconomic background affects the outcomes they experience as a result of their education (Lareau, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, 2003).Furthermore, the role played by the education system in creating or diminishing socioeconomic disparity has also been studied in depth (Bourdieu, 1977; Boudon, 1977). However, the journeys of students from low-income families that begin their education at community colleges and continue it, through careful planning or chance, at elite four-year institutions, has not been the subject of much attention. This thesis explores these students? perceptions of social mobility as they have been shaped by their experiences so far in life. This includes the exploration of changes in their perceptions as the contexts for their lives have been changed. Quantitative analysis of survey results and qualitative analysis of participant interviews serve as the data set for this study. The implications ofthe findings for student affairs practitioners are also explored.
Keywords
community college, transfer students, social mobility, low-income students, jack kent cooke foundation, bucknell university, higher education
Access Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Science in Education
Major
Education - college student personnel
First Advisor
Sue Ellen Henry
Recommended Citation
Sharif, Nadir, "Perceptions of Social Mobility in Community College Scholars at Bucknell University" (2011). Master’s Theses. 6.
https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/masters_theses/6