Elaborating the Connection between Social Class and Classism in College

Abstract

Highlights Financial stress is a key predictor of classism among college students. Financial stress predicts classism across immigration status and race. For U.S. born students, higher reported social class predicts greater exposure to classist narratives.

Racism and xenophobia on U.S. college campuses.

“…Some students of color face intersectional discrimination, such as that based in heterosexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, xenophobia, ableism, and religious discrimination. Furthermore, many students of color experience certain forms of discrimination, such as classism, differently than White students who are coping with economic struggles do, as students of color do not benefit from race privilege (Cattaneo et al, 2019). Additionally, class differences are evident between many U.S. students of color and international students.…”

Attitude Change and Action in a Course Aiming for the Social Justice Turn

“…The measurement of social class is complex, and the literature is clear that strategies must be matched to research questions and population (Diemer et al, 2013). For college students, in prior work we have found that the current level of financial stress, rather than their parents' resources or status or their sense of deprivation while growing up, is the most salient aspect of social class (Cattaneo, Chan, et al, 2019;Rubin et al, 2014).…”

“…The College Financial Stress Scale. The College Financial Stress Scale was created by the authors for the purpose of this data collection, and its validation is described in Cattaneo, Chan, et al (2019). It includes two subscales: the Current Financial Stress subscale includes seven items such as "Currently, considering all of the financial resources I have available, I have more money coming in than I have going out" and "Whatever happens, I am confident I will be financially secure next year" (responses given on a 1-5 Likert scale).…”

“…Additionally, in exploring the role of social identity in student experience of the course, we evaluated only social class. Social class intersects with other identities (e.g., race, gender) to produce experience in college as elsewhere (Cattaneo, Chan, et al, 2019;Langhout et al, 2009), and the full richness of that picture was not included in this study. We also did not track several aspects of student experience that might have added to our understanding of findings and would be worth adding in future work.…”

Counterspaces, Counterstructures: Low‐Income, First‐Generation, And Working‐Class Students’ Peer Support At Selective Colleges1

“…Moreover, while microaggressions may occur in person to person interactions, they are also communicated through institutional classism, that is, institutions operating in a way that privileges middle and upper‐SES students (see Locke and Trolian 2018 and Smith and Redington 2010 for brief reviews and discussions of class‐based microaggressions). Studies show that classism is pervasive on college campuses (Cattaneo et al 2019; Langhout, Rosselli, and Feinstein 2007; see also Jack 2018; Lee 2016). LIFGWC students report heightened awareness of class differences compared to their middle‐ and upper‐class peers (Warnock et al 2018) and experience classism to detrimental effect (Ellis et al 2019; Langhout et al 2007).…”