Jun 03, · At on June 1, —a year ago this week—my company was starting our weekly training meeting. The first five months of had already proved chaotic. Our battalion was activated as an immediate response battalion and deployed to Iraq for two months in January and February. Our redeployment was quickly followed by the outbreak [ ] THE PROBLEM: Monoculture is bad for business. We've focused here on engineering because people insist that non-male engineers or developers are "unicorns," but hiring more women & non-binary people in design, product, project management, community, and leadership positions in general creates a healthier workplace Jul 01, · Remember that the success of the essay depends on the ability to deeply personalize it and explore the relevant emotions and reflections associated with each step in the journey to adulthood. While their journey to adulthood may include their parents, this essay should center around the author and their own recognition of their personal
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Jump to navigation. Decisions about where to attend college are further suffused with class-based connotations associated with institutional prestige and rigor. Social classes are defined as social categories that diversity means reflections essay measures of socioeconomic status interwoven with social forces such as power, culture, prestige, and socialization Soria Students from lower social class backgrounds face significant structural challenges in higher education compared diversity means reflections essay their middle- and upper-class peers.
We need to acknowledge and address these disparities to create welcoming, inclusive, accessible campuses where students from all social class backgrounds can thrive. Structural disparities among students from different class backgrounds start early and run deep. High school seniors from high socioeconomic status backgrounds are much more likely to obtain college information from their parents 76 percent compared with 46 percent of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and are four times more likely to score in the highest quartile for reading and mathematics achievement.
Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to drop out of high school without earning a high school diploma 7 percent or complete only a high school degree 21 percent compared with students from high socioeconomic status backgrounds 1 percent and 3 percent, respectively National Center for Education Statistics All those factors culminate in greater diversity means reflections essay advantages for students from high socioeconomic status backgrounds, rendering higher education complicit in an ongoing system of classism.
Even within the more affordable and accessible two-year public community colleges, students from lower social class backgrounds are less successful than students from middle- and upper-class backgrounds. For many high-income students, community college is a stepping stone to a four-year degree; however, community college is a stopping point for many low-income students. Students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds who first enroll in community colleges are twice as likely to earn a four-year degree as students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who first enroll in community colleges 34 percent compared with 15 percent National Center for Education Statistics Overall, students from low-income backgrounds are much more likely to attend institutions that have lower graduation rates for all students Nicholscompounding the barriers they face.
To disrupt the trends that perpetuate privilege among the middle and upper classes, we need to first acknowledge that class power and classism permeate the academy. Social class affects every student, whether positively or negatively, diversity means reflections essay. Claims that students should be able to graduate from college by their own efforts constitute microaggressions for students marginalized by social class.
Such claims are laden with assumptions that students who do not graduate must not possess the grit, diversity means reflections essay, skills, intelligence, or drive to overcome hurdles. Instead, we should be honoring the strengths of students from lower social class backgrounds, including their resiliency, insights into issues of equity and justice through diversity means reflections essay lived experiences, and values of interdependence—being responsive to the needs of others, working cooperatively, and giving back to their communities or families Stephens, Fryberg, and Markus —especially at a time when collective action is essential to resolving social issues.
The focus on independent agency in higher education often diversity means reflections essay the interdependent cultural orientations of low-income students and has a detrimental impact on their academic performance Stephens et al.
After naming social class as a predominant diversity issue, administrators, staff, and faculty can help students identify how social class shapes their experiences. Engaging students in understanding the roots of their social class differences can be empowering for all students, who can benefit from hearing diverse perspectives diversity means reflections essay appreciating differences Stephens, Hamedani, and Destin Highlighting differences based on social class in a constructive manner diversity means reflections essay challenge the middle- and upper-class norms of higher education institutions and disrupt the ways in which those assumptions stigmatize lower-class cultures, ways of knowing, and experiences.
As they have overcome social and economic obstacles on their educational journeys, students from lower social diversity means reflections essay backgrounds demonstrate the type of tenacity vital to communities, campuses, and the workforce. It may be even more important to name class-based differences in the most marginalized spaces in academia: as discussed above, marginalized students e. The same may be true of regional public institutions, rural institutions, diversity means reflections essay, or for-profit or nonprofit online schools that employ a majority of adjunct faculty.
We must address classism at all institutional levels to help all students thrive. One way to normalize social class differences is to ask faculty and staff who identify as coming from first-generation or low-income backgrounds to share their personal experiences navigating higher education systems with students in class or in advising meetings. Students from lower social class backgrounds deserve more formal opportunities to legitimize their presence on campus.
Institutions should create centers or student organizations to connect students with peers and institutional agents including academic advisors, student affairs professionals, diversity means reflections essay, and faculty ; provide support and resources; and empower students to organize for change.
When low-income and first-generation students feel validated in the academy, they may be less isolated, more confident especially in their academic abilitiesand more likely to achieve success Rendόn These formal spaces can make students feel valued for their presence, a critical factor because students from lower social class backgrounds are more likely to experience a negative campus climate for social class than their peers Soria As an example of such a space, the Working Class Student Union at the University of Wisconsin—Madison is a student-led collective that advocates for institutional change, provides resources to students, and educates the university on the benefits of social class diversity.
We must also attend to the overwhelming cost of college attendance for diversity means reflections essay from low-income backgrounds. Over 50 percent of low-income students who chose not to enroll in college indicated that they made this decision because they could not afford to attend National Center for Education Statistics However, significant numbers 15 to 37 percent of low-income and diversity means reflections essay students did not apply for financial aid even when they enrolled in higher education National Center for Education Statisticssuggesting that more work is needed to connect students to financial aid opportunities.
In addition, institutional agents should connect low-income students to meaningful, higher-wage employment on- or off-campus and offer programs such as free book rentals that can save costs for all students. There are additional costs of college attendance: over 50 percent of low-income students reported that they chose not to attend college because they needed to help support their families National Center for Education Statistics For many low-income and first-generation students, earning a degree means disconnecting from family members and home communities.
Structured opportunities to help low-income students integrate their families into their college life may include family events with free childcare, heavily discounted lodging or travel costs, free career development events, or networking opportunities to connect low-income students and their families with college staff or faculty. For instance, when I was a first-generation college student and an undergraduate resident assistant, I invited my mother to teach my residence hall students first aid and CPR.
There is no one solution to better support students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds—a constellation of activities is required to combat the effects of societal and institutional classism. We need to recognize the systemic ways in which we are overlooking a large contingency of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, even amid our efforts to support equity and diversity, and we need to give voice to those students and honor their strengths.
Ma, Jennifer, and Sandy Baum. Trends in Community Colleges: Enrollment, Prices, Student Debt, and C ompletion. New York: The College Board. National Center for Education Statistics. Educational Longitudinal Study of ELS: Second Follow-Up, diversity means reflections essay, Washington, DC: US Department of Education. Postsecondary Attainment: Differences by Socioeconomic Status. Nichols, Andrew H. The Pell Partnership: Ensuring a Shared Responsibility for Low-Income Student Success.
Washington, diversity means reflections essay, DC: The Education Trust. Rendón, Laura I. Soria, Krista M. Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. Hurst and Sandi Kawecka Nenga, — Morrow, Nicole L. Laumer, and Garrett Marttinen. Stephens, Nicole M. Fryberg, diversity means reflections essay, and Hazel Rose Markus. Fiske and Hazel Rose Markus, 87— New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Hamedani, and Mesmin Destin. Taylor Phillips. Fryberg, Hazel Rose Markus, Camille S. Johnson, and Rebecca Covarrubias. White, Byron P. Krista M. Soria is Student Affairs Research and Assessment Associate, Office of Institutional Research at the University of Minnesota. org Privacy Policy Non-Endorsement Statement. Join our email list.
Search form Search. Download the Issue. Current Issue. Search Articles by Title. Table of Contents Overview. From the Editor: Valuing and Empowering Students from Low-Income Backgrounds. Honoring the Voices, diversity means reflections essay, Experiences, and Assets of Students from Low-Income Backgrounds.
Bridging the Divide: Addressing Social Class Disparities in Higher Education. Achieving Equity and Excellence at Colleges and Universities with High Graduation Rates: Early Lessons from the American Talent Initiative.
Giving Back: Community-Based Learning and Men from Low-Income, First-Generation Backgrounds. Using Transcript Data and Online Courses to Prepare More Students for College. College Men from Marginalized America: Male Retention Initiatives at Diversity means reflections essay College.
Global Students Having Global Experiences. The Power of Mentoring within High-Impact Practices: A Focus on Low-Income Students. The Unique Role of Tribal Colleges and Universities. Diversity and Democracy. By: Krista M. Disparities by Class Structural disparities among students from different class backgrounds start early and run deep.
A Look at Community Colleges Even within the more affordable and accessible two-year public community colleges, diversity means reflections essay, students from lower social class backgrounds are diversity means reflections essay successful than students from middle- and upper-class backgrounds. Acknowledging Diversity means reflections essay Class Differences To disrupt the trends that perpetuate privilege among the middle and upper classes, we need to first acknowledge that class power and classism permeate the academy, diversity means reflections essay.
Creating Welcoming, Accessible Campuses One way to normalize social class differences is to ask faculty and staff who identify as coming from first-generation or low-income backgrounds to share their personal experiences navigating higher education systems with students in class or in advising meetings. References Ma, Jennifer, and Sandy Baum.
Previous Issues. See All. Creating a Civic-Minded Culture. As our deeply divided nation confronts the devastating effects of a global pandemic and Read more. Undergraduate Global Health Education: Innovation and Evolving Practices.
How To Write a First Class Reflective Essay in 5 Simple Steps
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Jun 03, · At on June 1, —a year ago this week—my company was starting our weekly training meeting. The first five months of had already proved chaotic. Our battalion was activated as an immediate response battalion and deployed to Iraq for two months in January and February. Our redeployment was quickly followed by the outbreak [ ] THE PROBLEM: Monoculture is bad for business. We've focused here on engineering because people insist that non-male engineers or developers are "unicorns," but hiring more women & non-binary people in design, product, project management, community, and leadership positions in general creates a healthier workplace May 14, · This essay was written by Adrian Bloxham and was the winning social work entry in this year's Critical Writing Prize Adrian is studying for an MA at Anglia Ruskin University and he was nominated by his lecturer Dr Wendy Coxshall. I am currently on placement in a Supported Housing Hostel for adults in Cambridgeshire.
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