Working-class students tend to be less socially integrated at university than middle-class students (Rubin, 2012a). The present research investigated two potential reasons for this working-class social exclusion effect. First, working-class students may have fewer finances available to participate in social activities. Second, working-class students tend to be older than middle-class students and, consequently, they are likely to have more work and/or childcare commitments. These additional commitments may prevent them from attending campus which, in turn, reduces their opportunity for social integration. These predictions were confirmed among undergraduate students at an Australian university (N = 433) and a USA university (N = 416). Strategies for increasing working-class students' social integration at university are discussed.
The present research tested the hypotheses that (a) working-class students have fewer friends at university than middle-class students, and (b) this social class difference occurs because working-class students tend to be older than middle-class students. A sample of 376 first-year undergraduate students from an Australian university completed an online survey that contained measures of social class and age as well as quality and quantity of actual and desired friendship at university. Consistent with predictions, age differences significantly mediated social class differences in friendship. The Discussion focuses on potential policy implications for improving working-class students' friendships at university in order to improve their transition and retention.
Advances in technology have made music more readily accessible and geographic distance irrelevant in dissemination of music. Greater access to popular music has resulted in greater consumption by both children and adolescents. Popular music in the United States may contain the most sexual content, compared with other forms of media. Exposure to such content is associated with the development of gender ideals and identity, objectification and sexualization of women, permissive sexual attitudes and risky sexual behaviors, as well as greater acceptance of sexual and gendered violence. Even so, current education standards do not include media literacy, much less popular music media literacy, and do not prepare children for best practices related to media consumption. Some of the inadequacies in current education standards include introducing education about media influence on personal development at an age far later than children’s engagement with contemporary media, avoidance of controversial topics, and not making this education compulsory. Considering the lack of media literacy provided in the curriculum, we outline specific foundational curricular recommendations related to media education and specifically for popular music media literacy.
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